


Silent Whispers

by Memento_Mori2



Category: Vampyr (Video Game)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Culture, Alien/Human Relationships, Alternate Universe - 90s, Alternate Universe - Men in Black, Fluff, Gen, Investigations, M/M, Murder, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Serial Killer, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:15:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26723497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Memento_Mori2/pseuds/Memento_Mori2
Summary: Geoffrey McCullum, human Special Agent for the London branch of MiB is tasked with finding and stopping a serial killer. He soon finds out he requires the help of his alien significant other and head physician of the medical division, Jonathan Reid. Follow them and their relationship as the try to track down who, and what is killing people all over London.
Relationships: Geoffrey McCullum/Jonathan Reid
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Lictor from over at the Pembroke Hospital discord! Without their prompt for an MiB AU, or their beautiful artwork this would never have wormed it's way into my brain. Also thank you everyone at the discord who brainstormed with us!

It was an overcast and pleasant morning, with a slight breeze. Special agent Geoffrey McCullum was driving out to a report of another body found in Southwark. Director Usher Talltree had told him the victim was found around 2:40 a.m. over on Quilp Street behind a wall. Seeing as there was a nearby park it was likely that person was just heading home through the park when they were attacked.

Other agents had been out to the scene already to run crowd control and gather statements of anyone that might have seen anything. Geoffrey's mission was to see if it was related to a couple of recent bizarre murders that had cropped up over London these past few weeks. Specifically, he was to look for any signs or clues as to who or what killer was, and what their next move might be.

He passed over the Southwark Bridge enjoying the drive with the windows down and music blaring from his favorite grunge and alternative rock station. Best to enjoy the little things in life he mused. Which reminded him he would need to pick up some fertilizer for Jon’s plant Lisa and a couple of other things before he went home tonight. Maybe he would surprise Jonathan with some marinated brisket, he hadn’t cooked one of those in a while. They should also still have carrots and potatoes. 

He pulled up to the scene as he was finalizing his shopping list in his head. He stopped his car and headed over to the cordoned off crime scene. Agent E was talking to a supposed witness. He went through a little door that separated the street from the victims resting place.

The sight was not pleasant to look at. At first glance all that Geoffrey saw was the skin of the victim. He brought out a probe to examine the body without contaminating it. Lifting the tissue around the mouth he confirmed that metal fillings were indeed left intact. This definitely looked like it was linked to the other murders. This made it the fourth in three weeks, not a good sign. He noticed a pool of mucus like fluid under the body that did not appear to be blood. He took out a specimen jar and collected it for testing back at the lab. He continued searching around for any other evidence from the preparator but found nothing of note.

He would let Elisabeth and her team collect the rest of the evidence, best for him to return to London headquarters and test the fluid he had collected.

“Agent G, leaving so soon?” a reserved feminine voice called out to Geoffrey.

Turning towards the voice Geoffrey held up the specimen jar and said, “Aye not much I could gather this time, except for this.”

Elisabeth Ashbury looked at it for a good while before asking, “Is this case linked to the other murders then?”

“It’s looking that way yeh,” Geoffrey responded grimly.

Sighing she replied, “Let me know what that turns out to be,” eyeing his discovery.

“Sure thing E,” he said waving back to her as he strolled away.

Getting back in his black Aston Martin DB7 he headed back to the London branch HQ over in the East End. He pulled into the unassuming side driveway that led to the underground garage of the complex. Heading over the elevator, he got his ID chip out to verify his clearance. He entered and held the chip to the panel by the wall with the buttons. **_Access granted welcome back special agent G_** an automated voice called out.

He pressed the button labeled Medical and Evidence Testing. He fidgeted while he waited to ascend to his destination. As he stepped off the lift, he was greeted by a few of the Annelids loudly chatting amongst themselves with mugs of coffee clutched in their hands.

_“Heading to break boys?”_ McCullum said as he raised a brow and smirked.

As he moved to the side to let them by, Tannix boisterously called out, _"Hey what’s up Geoff I thought you were going down town to look at another body.”_

_“I just got back, found something new this time at the scene,”_ Geoffrey replied.

_“Oh! What did you find?”_ Creelie asked.

_“Not sure yet, was heading to Evidence to get it tested.”_ Geoffrey almost walked away before he turned back and asked, _“You lot didn’t give Jonathan any coffee while you all were up here correct?”_

_“We swear we didn’t McCullum, honest… at least not today,”_ Tannix laughed.

_“Good I would not want a repeat of last time.”_ Last time he thought, had been a couple months back when Jonathan had needed to stay up late working on some research or something and had decided to try coffee the first time. After all he, he had consumed various teas before without issue surely it wouldn’t be so bad?

It was a hilariously bad decision. Jonathan had been bouncing off the walls, barely able to contain his human form. He also got to a point where he was incoherently speaking his native language as well as human English at the same time. This had lasted for four hours, in which Jonathan barely got anything done in-between fits of hyper focusing and restlessly darting around the room. By the time he came down off the caffeine, Jonathan had been shaking and barely able to function or communicate. Geoffrey had drove them both home and sent Jon straight to bed to recover.

Coming back out of the memory sighing fondly the agent bid the worms good day and went to hand off the specimen bottle to the evidence team. He didn’t tarry long because he wanted to see Jon after his conversation with the worms. He wanted to make sure they were telling him the truth, but also, he really just missed Jon.

McCullum made his way to the other side of the hall opening the door to the medical wing. He made his way to head physician’s office. The plaque read Dr. Jonathan Reid, Head Physician in bold script. Geoffrey didn’t knock as he entered the room. Jon was hunched over a microscope off to the left. He must be lost in thought to have not looked up already. It was rare that Geoff got to sneak up on him, having extremely good hearing even by his species standards. As he neared, he noticed one of Jon’s ears twitch as if picking up Geoffrey’s approach, but the man stayed glued to his work. Leaning over, the agent came to rest his forehead on the nape of Jon’s neck.

Jonathan startled as he felt something rest on the back of his neck. Then he felt and smelled who it was standing behind him. He smiled turning to face his human as he let out a trilling purr. The agent couldn’t hear him fully as most of his vocalization was beyond human hearing, but Geoff chuckled affectionately none the less, which pleased Jon. Geoffrey moved to hug his lovable alien careful of Jonathan’s boundaries.

Jonathan was a Xenoptera. He had made the journey to Earth to get away from all the lies, and rampant corruption on his homeworld. When he had shown up seeking asylum Geoffrey had been, quite frankly, wretched to him. It was a prejudice that caused friction between them for years. Geoffrey was slow to trust at the best of times. And since Reid’s species were known to be untrustworthy, or at least fundamental manipulators, it was hard for him to accept the doctor’s words as truth.

It still pained Geoffrey when he thought back on those years. Jonathan had also studied human and alien medicine during that time. He was incredibly brilliant and eager to learn. He was most fascinated with human biology which led him to taking a position at MiB’s medical division. Both he and Geoffrey rose quickly through the ranks and by the spring of 94’ they both held esteemed positions of head physician and special agent respectively.

By then Geoffrey had gotten his head out of his ass, and had even started to harbor feelings for the quiet alien. He had plucked up the courage to ask him out in fall of the following year. They were taking it slow because as an interspecies couple there were definitely some unique hurdles to navigate.

Geoffrey had learned that normal human signifiers of intimacy, while valid, did not illicit the same response in his partner. Just thinking about the first time he had tried to kiss Jon caused his face to grow warm with embarrassment. Jonathan had not understood the gesture, and had seriously thought Geoffrey was trying to eat him. He had almost dropped his human skin in fright, and self-defense. It had taken several hours of apologizing and explaining before Jon had felt safe enough for Geoff to touch him again.

Jonathan had researched human relationships after that. Which led to one of the most awkward conversations where Geoffrey had to explain why a part of his body sprang to attention when he was excited around Jon. Despite it all they had grown closer these last few months. It was nice. Geoffrey had even invited Jonathan to move in with him at his flat over in Whitechapel not three months ago.

_“May I kiss you Jon?”_ The agent murmured into the doctor’s sensitive ear. All he got in response was a deep affirmative hum. Geoffrey turned the doctor around on his stool and caressed his face. Leaning in he first rested his forehead briefly on Jon’s before pressing his lips to his mouth. It was slow and it was sensual. Jonathan was still getting used to the feeling of it, but he reciprocated the gesture eagerly.

Jonathan could be very hard to read due to his biology at the best of times. Sometimes it was hard to vocalize what his wants and needs were effectively to Geoffrey. Geoff had gotten very good at listening to Jon’s breathing and the way his breath hitched or cut off abruptly as if he was vocalizing something that was just outside the agent’s realm of hearing. It was in these moments that Geoffrey would rest a part of himself on Jon’s skin, the act of prolonged contact seemed to be what the alien craved the most from the human.

Jonathan would always back away far too soon for the human’s liking, but Geoffrey was not discouraged. It filled his heart with joy to be able to have this rather tall man all to himself. He still got butterflies in his stomach at the sight of him at their flat after a long day at work. Reluctantly he backed up smiling down at the doctor and asking, _“What are you up to today love?”_

_“I have been working on a mechanism to mimic my digestive fluids to make it easier to eat on a daily basis.”_

_“Is this bothering you greatly Jon?”_ Geoffrey looked into his eyes intently. _“It doesn’t bother me that meals take a little extra prep work at home.”_

_“No, it’s not that,"_ Jonathan said sheepishly _. “It’s just that I could spend less time running everything through the blender if I could just have an additive that I could marinate my food in the night or day before. It would be much better than simply mushing the food up as best I could. It would be more nutritious for me as well.”_ Jon energetically stated, “ _I could even use it to possibly extrapolate a way to help others as well given enough time.”_

_“Speaking of marinade, I thought about picking up some brisket on the way home this evening and cooking it with some carrots and potatoes. I was also going to grab some more fertilizer for your plant over there as you’ve probably forgotten to do,”_ Geoffrey teased.

_“I feel like I’m being called out,”_ Reid bantered back. However, glancing at Lisa over by his office desk caused the doctor to hang his head in shame for a moment. Lisa did appear to be drooping a little in her pot by his desk.

_“It’s alright love, I’m only joking,”_ Geoffrey leaned back in to rest his head at Jon’s temple briefly.

After a moment Jonathan turned back to his microscope with a small quiet smile and asked, _“How did your trip to Southwark go?”_

_“It went about the same as last time,”_ the human sighed. _“The body was found in a similar state, drained except for skin and any metal implants. I found metal fillings for teeth in the victim’s mouth, but I didn’t search the rest of the body. Agent E and her team was already on scene, and looked to be collecting evidence just fine, so I didn’t want to impede their efforts.”_

_“Did anything unusual or different pop up this time?”_ Jonathan says looking over some of his notes, ears twitching slightly.

_“Now that you mention it there was this strange fluid pooled under the poor sod's body. I collected some of it for testing. In fact, I dropped it off before coming and checking in on you. At a glance the victim also looked to have been cut up pretty bad before they met their final end, but I’ll know more after the autopsy. Think you’ll perform it this time?”_ McCullum said casually sitting on the corner of the alien’s desk.

_“I might if they request my expertise otherwise, I may be busy when they bring it by. I’ll ask Ackroyd to do it in my stead if it comes to that.”_

_“Well I best be getting back up to my office,”_ the agent says reluctantly then scowls _, “I’ve gotta do some paperwork. Maybe I’ll ask Talltree if I can finish my initial report from this morning at home. That would give me time to cook before you got off work. What time does your shift end at today?”_

_I think I get off at 11:30, but if I’m preforming the autopsy then I may run on the late side,”_ Jon said distressingly as he reached out to his human. It was a need to communicate through touch what the Xenopteran often didn’t outwardly display on his face.

McCullum quickly saw Jon’s proverbial hackles rising and grabbed his outstretched hand to soothe him. _“That’s alright, I know you can’t always get off work at a certain time. I’ll still be there when you do get off.”_ Placated, Jonathan turned back to his work, but not before the agent snuck a light peck on his neck under his left ear. _“See you tonight handsome,”_ McCullum purred in his deep Irish accent.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some potentially triggering parts in this one although I tried to not be too graphic with them. 
> 
> Potential Trigger Warnings for: spousal abuse, death, homophobic language, and anxiety/panic attacks
> 
> basically Geoffrey and Jonathan deserve all the hugs.

Geoffrey debated if he should to speak to Talltree before or after doing some paperwork as he made his way to the elevator. Agent McCullum didn’t like sending office emails or memos. Matter of fact he hated paperwork too. Decision made he hit the button for the director of MiB’s London branch. Stepping out of the lift he glanced up and saw Usher Talltree laying out another one of his tarot readings. Geoffrey just shook his head in irritated resignation.

He walked the length of the room to where Talltree was turning over ten cards in what looked like a cross like fashion. Geoffrey rose an eyebrow and when he got no response he sighed and sat down in front of the man’s desk.

_“How did the field trip go McCullum?”_ Talltree said mysteriously.

_“I assume your cards already told you that,”_ the agent grumbled.

_“Perhaps but, humor me if you will,”_ the director pinned him with a cryptic stare.

Huffing Geoffrey started, _“Agent E and her team were already on scene when I got there. I did give the body a look and it’s definitely our killer again. I pulled some unusual fluid and got it to the evidence lab not long ago. The autopsy will have to wait until E’s team makes it back. I suppose Jonathan or someone in medical will start it as soon as they get here with the body.”_ Talltree nodded and hummed in affirmation, looking at the cards he had laid out and not at the special agent. _“Anyway, I was wondering if I could finish up some paperwork and then head home early and finish the preliminary report of the murder there. I won’t be able to give a full account until after the autopsy is finished and I get the test results from the lab anyhow.”_

By this point the director had not been paying much attention, instead mumbling to himself a little. The agent felt his blood boiling a little as he became increasingly aggravated at the man. Before he could get up to leave, Talltree’s gaze jerked up and seemed to stare into his soul. The director then spoke, _“McCullum be careful going forward I see great danger and intrigue in your future.”_

Sputtering Geoffrey tried to speak but was interrupted again by Talltree, _“I see that it will take all of your wits and even some outside help for you to truly break this case and this is the most likely, best-case scenario.”_

_“What are you saying? I work alone… sir,”_ Geoffrey spat seething with indignation.

Pointing at the cards Usher said, _“I see that your best outcome in this will be to have assistance.”_

_“You know I don’t believe in that superstitious hogwash director, it’s bullocks_!” Geoffrey cried out Irish brogue getting thicker with every word.

_“Calm yourself Agent,”_ Talltree leveled him a harsh stare _, “I did not ask for your input in this.”_

_“How could you make decisions based off of what some random cards say? People have died. More will surely follow.”_ McCullum yelled.

_“Special Agent McCullum you will control yourself. I do this because what I read from these cards is very rarely wrong. I see ominous clouds in your future and I am trying to help you. This is not something I do as a punishment; it is a calculation that we must utilize. We cannot afford to lose. Not you nor this case. If we fail, we imperil all of London. If what I’m reading is correct, this may even lead to other cities and countries being involved, which we cannot risk.”_

_“Now then, I understand your reservations and your sometimes-inane notion that you don’t need, and will never need a partner. You may work best alone, but in this, I will not budge. I am effective immediately assigning Dr. Reid to assist you on this case as your partner.”_ Director Talltree stated shrewdly. Continuing he said, _“He has been cleared for field duties and will be a great asset to you. He can continue his other duties in his off time as he so chooses, but to be honest it’s been quiet enough here that he could use the extra workload.”_

In an attempt to keep from expressing his bewilderment, Geoffrey stiffened into an approximate of a military parade rest before asking, _“Will that be all sir?”_

_“Yes, agent you are free to go.”_ The director chuckled.

As Geoffrey waited on the elevator Talltree called out to him amusement in his tone _, “The answer to your request is granted. You may go home early today, provided you finish a detailed account after the lab and medical teams are finished with the evidence.”_

Scoffing McCullum made his way to his office on the eighth floor. Although smaller than Jonathan’s, it was still the biggest one on the floor. It had a large floor to ceiling tinted window overlooking the city behind his desk. The desk was strewn with paperwork and other clutter. Groaning he went to hang his gear up, before sitting at his desk and searching for his laptop. Setting it up he got to work clearing out some reports of his other smaller cases.

Several hours later he noticed an email from the lab stating that the results had come in. It had been some type of mucus like digestive fluid, or something similar. Well that’s one thing he could add to his testimony he thought. Sighing he got up and popped his back. Checking the time, he saw that it was about 4 p.m. Normally he would have worked until eight or nine at night, but he wanted to really pull out all the stops for Jonathan tonight. He had also started his shift way earlier than normal due to the new murder. The agent packed up what he needed to work from home and rushed to his car.

Geoffrey stopped at the mall close to Jon and his flat. He picked up the fertilizer for Lisa at a local garden shop and proceeded to their favorite grocer. He perused the aisles while contemplating what he wanted to make with the brisket. He settled on making his mother’s colcannon recipe. He missed his mother dearly in moments like this. She had been the one that taught him how to cook. His mother had been slain by Geoffrey’s dad after a bad night of heavy drinking. The man had been belligerent when he stumbled through the door that night. The abuser had picked a fight with his wife almost immediately and Geoffrey had tried to get between them so that his mother could get away. In the ensuing chaos his mother had been stabbed and despite getting her to the hospital, she had not pulled through. His older brother Ian who had been away at that time, hadn’t even showed up for the funeral in Dublin or made contact.

Attempting to shake off the memory, Geoffrey grabbed a head of cabbage, fresh garlic, some spring onions and a few other things from produce. He then picked up some butter, bacon and the brisket, before making his way to the checkout counter. Satisfied with his purchases he headed home.

He wasted no time when he got to his apartment complex a little before 5 p.m. Geoffrey made his way up to the top floor of the building. It was a decently affluent residence in a good neighborhood, with easy transit access. He made his way into the apartment setting the groceries down before checking that everything was in place. Can never be too careful he thought to himself.

He made his way back into the kitchen where he got out the rest of the ingredients out for the soak. He was planning on a six-hour Guinness based marinade, so he needed to start it now. He hummed to himself while he chopped and combined the ingredients into a sealable container. After letting the marinade sit for thirty minutes, he added the brisket and then a bit more of the Guinness so that it would be enough to submerge the meat. He left it to sit in the fridge. Geoffrey decided to wait until the brisket was ready to cook before prepping and making the colcannon.

After cleaning up he made a glass of his favorite whiskey and went over to their shared office that was the second bedroom. He settled in and continued working while the brisket marinated. He pulled up the lab results from the specimen he had collected that morning. In the readout there were a lot of things listed that went over McCullum’s head. He would have to ask Jonathan about it later.

_Earlier that day._

Jonathan turned and lowered his gaze in an effort to keep from letting his embarrassed vocalizations from reaching a tone that Geoffrey could hear. As he heard his human leave the office, he looked back at the microscope in front of him, he tried to focus on his earlier task. He knew that in his human form his saliva did have some of the properties of his natural digestive fluids. The problem was that in this form he was not able to produce it in enough quantity or potency to aid him in eating. And sure, blending the food into mush worked, but he wanted to be free to not have to use that method all the time. Also just blending the food meant that he missed some nutrients his body needed, that required supplementation. The doctor preceded to get lost in his research for a while. Several hours later Reid felt he was close to a breakthrough. It looked like he just needed to isolate a couple more proteins before moving on to the next step. 

There was a knock at the door. _“Come in,”_ Jonathan called out. Looking up from the microscope again Jon noticed that his visitor was director Talltree.

_“Sir, what can I do for you today?”_ the doctor said getting up and making his way over to his main desk. He had gotten used to the suppressing the urge of vocalizing his deference in his native language but he still came across in English as overly posh in his inflection. While it set some people off occasionally, his rich baritone more often than not, made people like him and open up to him. 

As if reading his mind, the director chuckled and said, _“I have a couple of tasks with which I must ask for your expertise and assistance. Agent E and her team have recovered the body discovered in the wee hours of the morning. It is now waiting in the morgue. I would like you to perform the autopsy, I have a feeling that your expertise will be most beneficial in this. Afterwards I am assigning you to assist special agent McCullum with his investigations into the recent murders. I believe that you will be able to help him finally catch the killer.”_

_“Sir? Does that mean you wish me to take on field duties?”_ Reid asked as checked the time.

Seeing the clock read 6:40 p.m. Jon turned to the director as the man continued, _“Yes, and Jonathan, I suspect it won’t take you too long with the victim as there are others that can run the labs and testing for you. I hazard that you may likely get done a little early this evening. Why not take the night off early after you are finished?”_

_“Are you sure director I could do it myself, it’s not a problem to me.”_

_“I’m quite sure. As I understand it Geoffrey requested off early. Think of it as an opportunity to surprise him,”_ Talltree said smiling.

Jon did like the sound of that, so much so that he let an inhuman trill escape his mouth before he could stop himself. Talltree gave him a look. Sometimes the doctor swore that the man could hear him when stuff like that happened. He couldn’t be sure the man was human half of the time.

Awkwardly clearing his throat Jonathan replied, _“Ok I’ll get started on the autopsy and after I’m done, I’ll take your offer and retire early for the night.”_

_“Excellent, take care doctor. I have a good feeling about this turn of events.”_ Talltree responded pleasantly.

With that Talltree left him to head to the morgue. The doctor went to get prepared for the autopsy and found Dr. Ackroyd was there as well ready to start. Waverly Ackroyd was a Noken'zed. He had fled to Earth in an attempt to escape what he found to be an unbearable life on his home planet of Nohkaen. His species was matriarchal and highly territorial. As he had described it, all his people seemed to want to do was to constantly go to war over one thing or another. On his home planet he was expected to join one of the fighting clan branches. He had left off world as soon as he gotten the chance. It was hard to imagine this tediously dry man, as some super strong colossus. He was however a good doctor and was exceptionally good at tabling his usually open disdain of Reid, in moments where it mattered.

Jonathan nodded at the man before saying, _“So what do we have?”_

In his droning cynical tone Ackroyd replied, _“We have a deceased human male estimated age range of 25 to 30 years old. Of the remains; only the skin, some metal dental fillings, and a metal plate from a previous procedure were left behind. Agent G also acquired and unknown substance from under the victim on scene and has sent it off to evidence testing.”_

Reid examined the lacerations on the skin. _“Did any blood or other organic material get picked up from the scene besides the one specimen?”_

_“Not that I know of. The investigative team did recover something from under the nails of the victims which we could send for testing.”_ Waverly spoke with a slightly more animated tone.

_“Very well,”_ Jonathan said, _“let us begin.”_

What followed was a relatively short autopsy, considering the lack of remains. The two doctors meticulously documented everything that they could, noting in particular the serrated patterns of the lacerations on the victim. They also concluded that the victim likely died sometime shortly before their body had been discovered due to the signs of decomp had not been very advanced. That meant that the perpetrator probably wasn’t too far ahead of the team that found the body.

The duo took various tissue samples and sent those to the lab technicians in evidence testing. Satisfied that they had done all they could, Jonathan and Ackroyd cleaned up and headed out for the evening. Jonathan went to his office to check over a few things and to water Lisa before he left just before half past nine. Glad that he wouldn’t have to worry about the sunlight going home he got into his Ford Escort and headed for the apartment.

The parking lot was almost full tonight so he had to walk a little to reach Geoffrey’s and his apartment building. He dreaded another night like this. It meant he had to pass through that path with the tall hedges and concrete walls on either side again. Jonathan felt the rush of adrenaline as he tried his best not to panic. He had been attacked about a week after he had moved in with Geoffrey which was just about three months ago. On a night similar to this, Jon had needed to park away from the building. He had been lost in thought and walking through the passage between the hedges without worry, when a group of strangers had tried to assault him.

It had been four men all in nondescript clothing, with bandanas to hide their faces. They had gotten up into his face sneering at him calling him a homo and a faggot. When he asked why they had followed him and why they were harassing him, they had replied that they had watched Jon and Geoffrey for a while now practicing open sodomy and had come to put an end to it. He had not understood at the time what he had done to cause this reaction in the men. To Jonathan he hadn’t made a distinction between who and what Geoffrey’s was. Geoffrey had always been his human, as simple as that. He didn’t understand why it was a big deal or wrong in these men’s eyes.

Jonathan continued walking towards the apartment trying to no to be drawn up in the memory of what he had felt next. He had been trying to get out of the path and into the building as quickly as he could, but they had cornered him, two on either side. One had had a baseball bat with him as well. Frightened and anxious he barely remembers what happened after that. He remembers the one with the bat coming closer as if in an attempt to swing it at him when in a moment of sheer panic, Jonathan had screeched and lost control of his human form. Panicking and studently unable to speak he had let off another shriek as the men rapidly fled in terror. He couldn’t think clearly and had flown to the top of the building. Geoffrey had heard the noise and thought it might have been him. Geoff had found him in the stairwell to the fifth floor. Jon had been inconsolable for a while after.

Jonathan was hyperventilating by the time he reached their apartment. It took him a couple of minutes fumbling with the keys before he was able to open the door. He closed the door and collapsed in the entryway keening as he shifted into his true form.

_Moments earlier_

Geoffrey had been cooking brisket pleased with the aroma it was giving off. The colcannon was also sitting ready not too far away. He had made good time; he would even be able to mix up a glass for Jon before he got home. All of the sudden he heard the door to the apartment burst open. Before he could react, he heard Jonathan let out a wail.

Dropping the tongs onto the counter, he dashed to his beloved alien in the foyer of their flat. Jon had shifted out of his human form and by all looks was in the middle of an anxiety or panic attack. He was on the floor with torn clothing around him. Jon’s breathing was labored as well. Geoffrey got down on the floor with him and started to make calm humming sounds.

As he cooed, he said, _“I’m here love, your safe nothing can get to yeh. I’m going to touch you now is that ok sweetheart?”_

Jonathan turned to him still letting off whimpering cry’s but also adjusted his posture to allow Geoff easier access _. “It’s okay love I’ve got you,”_ the human said as he embraced Jon as best as he could. Once he got into a better position, he tightened his hold and just held his alien shushing him and rocking him a little.

Geoffrey didn’t know how long they stayed like that before Jonathan calmed down enough to morph back into a human. When he did the human scooped him up in his arms and got him over to their couch.

_“I’ll be right back love; I’m going to turn the stove off so I don’t burn the place down.”_ Once he came back Geoffrey took his shirt off and pulled Jon back into his arms. He knew skin on skin contact would do the most at help calming his partner down. _“There, there…”_ he said embracing his boyfriend. Jonathan at this point was still gasping a little and letting off an occasional high-pitched whine. 

They stayed like that for a period of time before Jonathan murmured, _“I’m sorry Geoffrey.”_

_“There is nothing for you to be sorry about Jon,”_ he replied leaning and touching his forehead to Jonathan’s temple.

Jonathan replied in a frazzled voice, _“But I wanted to surprise you by coming home early and enjoying the meal you cooked for us.”_

_“No, none of that. The food will still be there for us later. I’ll make sure to put it in the fridge. More importantly are you ok love? You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’m here for you if you do. Always.”_ Geoffrey replied.

_“Maybe later, I just feel exhausted and nauseous.”_ Jonathan yawned.

_“That’s fine Jon. How about I put up the food and then we can head to bed?”_

_“Can we keep cuddling?”_

_“Sure thing, Jon. How about you get into bed and I’ll join you in a minute or two.”_

Nodding Jonathan got up and left for their master bedroom while Geoffrey transferred the food into containers. Not wanting to leave his doctor alone for too long he transferred the used dishes to the sink. He could do them later he thought.

Making his way back into their room he took off the rest of his clothing, climbed into bed, and pulled Jonathan to him again. There he held the alien whispering gently to him until he fell asleep. Soon after Geoffrey followed Jon into restful slumber.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Potential Trigger Warnings for: trauma from witnessing a parent's murder.

Geoffrey came to with a soft rumbling purr close to his ear. Jonathan was pressed tightly into him, in an adorable attempt at being the little spoon, despite them being almost the same size. It had taken almost a month and a half before the Xenopteran had been comfortable enough with him to sleep this close together. The agent never openly admitted, but he harbored the intense desire for close contact and gentle touches like this too. He could never get enough of the loveable alien he thought to himself. Breathing in deeply he smelled the scent of Jon’s favorite cologne, fresh earth, and a hint of antiseptics the man used at work. As he started to rub the sleep from his eyes, Geoffrey became quickly aware that another part of him was growing excited as well.

With a bittersweet groan he tried to disentangle himself from Jon before his morning wood woke him up. They hadn’t talked much about physical intimacy as far as actual sex was concerned. God just explaining what an erection was to him had been embarrassing. Remembering the first night they had lain together and how his body had been very eager, caused him to shudder with embarrassment.

Insatiably curious the doctor had asked, _“Geoffrey, why are human genitals used for copulation? Because that sounds very unhygienic to me!"_

_"Uh... mother nature's idea I guess,"_ Geoffrey had mortifyingly replied.

_"Who's that?"_

_“It’s justa saying Jon, usually in reference to how humans have evolved. It just means that’s how we were made.”_ McCullum had felt like melting into the floor with humiliation at how much he had blushed then.

His body had been getting impatient with him over the last week or so. Reid had been very adamant that his species and culture dictated a period of around five Earth months before serious coupling could occur. He explained it as akin to older human customs of courtship, where they found out if they were compatible for each other before consummating a bond. Geoffrey understood, but his other brain refused to get with the program.

Jonathan’s purring had stopped, instead replaced with a brief chirp before he turned around and looked at the human with pitch black eyes. Jon must have removed his contacts last night. Even in his human form his eyes were otherworldly. They were just beautiful solid pools of obsidian, no variance between the pupil or sclera. He wore the contacts to keep up human appearances and to protect his sensitive vision from the harmful ultraviolet light that the sun gave off. He had multiple sets with varying colors, although he wore the icy blue one more often than not now, after he discovered his human seemed to prefer them.

Sleepily Jonathan yawned out, _“Where are you going Geoff?”_

_“Nowhere sweetheart, I just didn’t want to wake you with this,”_ Geffrey replied pointing to the obvious erection he was sporting.

_“Hmmm,”_ the alien hummed looking at him with a curious look in his eye.

_“What Jon?”_ Geoffrey huffed softly at his boyfriend. _“I know that look in your eyes, what do want to ask?”_

_“I’m unsure how to proceed here,”_ Jon said with a hint of bewilderment in his tone. _“Do you need help with it, or do I need to leave you alone, or…”_ he trailed off unsure of what to say.

Chuckling the human replied, _“I can take care of it later or it will eventually go away on its own.”_

Leaning in Jonathan’s rich voice vibrated deeply between them, _“Did I cause you to feel that way Geoffrey?”_

All McCullum did in reply was turn a bright red from the tips of his ears to his toes as his dick jerked at the sound of Jonathan’s velvety baritone.

Catching the movement, Jon moved in closer to his human and said in an almost imperceptible purr, _“Let me help.”_

With that Geoffrey gave in with a low moan, leaning back against the headboard as he swiftly took his throbbing member out of his boxers and started stroking it firmly. Jonathan watched enraptured as his beloved human worked himself, while his breathing became erratic and he moaned wantonly.

_“Jon… Love, if you still want to help, ah…. come over here,”_ he said between strokes his thick Irish brogue getting deeper and more pronounced as time went on.

Curiously the alien maneuvered himself closely beside Geoffrey and slowly reached out hesitant and afraid of hurting the man before him. Geoffrey took ahold of Jon’s hand and guided it to his swollen member hissing when the cool delicate hand of the doctor met his heated flesh. There he started to gently guide the alien in how to stroke and pull those sweet words from his mouth. Jonathan listened to the instruction, but was soon emboldened by the sounds he was able make Geoffrey produce.

_“Yess…. Jonathan, that’s it love…”_ Geoffrey writhed under the alien’s touch. Jonathan suddenly surprised him by strongly squeezing at the base before caressing him along his prominent underside vein, which caused him to jerk his head back and cry out, _“Jon more love, please… fuck… I’m so close”_

Jonathan watched fascinated with every word and sound that was coaxed from Geoffrey’s mouth by the Xenopteran’s loving ministrations. Geoffrey let out another moan that ended up sounding more like a soft growl, which resulted in Reid letting out an answering trill. This in turn caused him to let off a litany of warbling sounds. He hadn’t anticipated reacting this way as he tried to stifle his embarrassed chirps. He had no comparison between his knowledge of bonding and courtship amongst his species and humans. This felt exhilarating and at the same time so very different from what he knew of from back home. Geoffrey definitely seemed to be enjoying and reacting to the sounds Jon was making though.

Jonathan continued to stroke his human, increasing his speed when he heard the exquisite cries from Geoffrey for, _“Faster sweetheart! Ungh…. like that ya…”_ Jonathan then had an idea and brushed his fingers sensually across the head of his boyfriend’s cock while continuing to work Geoff with his other hand. Without warning Geoffrey roared as he came, the contrasting stimulation being too much for him to bear.

Geoffrey had painted Jonathan’s hand and their stomachs in his seed. Panting and exhausted the human looked up to his alien and asked, _“That was amazing Jon, may I kiss you?”_

Jonathan let off a pleased trill as Geoffrey pulled the Xenopteran down into a sensually slow kiss. After, he rested his forehead against the doctor and said tenderly, _“I’ve been wanting that for so long, thank you.”_ Jonathan replied with an inhuman vocalization, but the agent just chuckled and pulled him into a hug. They sat there cuddling for a time, even dozing off again for a brief moment.

All too soon they had to get out of bed and start their day. Geoffrey took the shower first knowing Jon was due for one of his longer showers. Jonathan sometimes had to wash and check himself in his original form. And while Geoffrey wanted to join him or even offer help, the flat’s bathroom was not built for Jonathan’s true form. He couldn’t even fully stand as his full height was over nine feet. It was also hard for him to maneuver his wings in the tiny space. While Jon was busy with that Geoffrey made his way to the kitchen to prepare Jonathan’s smoothie for the day. He took out some of the leftovers from last night and got them going in the food processor. While he was at it, he also fixed a bowl of cereal and packed his own lunch.

After a while Jonathan walked into the kitchen giving Geoffrey a quick look before he made his way over to where his food was blending and saying, _“Thank you, Geoffrey, for cooking last night and for preparing it for me today.”_

_“It’s no problem Jon I like cooking for you,”_ Geoffrey said as he made his way over behind his boyfriend. _“You missed a spot I think.”_

_“Hmmm?”_ Jonathan replied ears twitching at the closeness of his boyfriend’s voice.

_“I think you missed a spot of your sunscreen on your neck behind your left ear.”_

_“Oh, well I guess I should fix that before we head out yes?”_ Jon teased.

_“That would be wise, do you need help with it?”_

_“I should be alright, just give me a couple extra minutes and then we can head to headquarters,”_ the doctor said.

_"I’ll clean up the kitchen then we can make our way down to the car.”_ The agent noticed Jonathan stiffen briefly when he mentioned the car.

Carefully McCullum asked, _“Love, do you want to talk about last night?”_

_“No, not really.”_ Jon said glancing up briefly into the human’s eyes before staring down at his hands.

_“It’s tearing you up though, I hate to see it eat at you like this.”_

Sighing the doctor went and grabbed the tube of ointment he used to protect his skin from the bathroom. Even in his human form he had to be careful going out in the daylight hours. Even the most overcast days in winter could cause sunburns to his exposed skin after an hour.

He walked back over to the counter between the kitchen and living room and reluctantly grumbled, _“I had to park far away last night. It hasn’t been a problem since that time right after I moved in but, it all came back to me when I had to walk through that pathway with the concrete and hedges again."_

Geoffrey could tell Jon’s breathing had started to pick up and though he didn’t want to cause his partner further pain, he stayed silent because it seemed like the alien needed to talk it out. Slowly he made his way around the counter and took the sunscreen from Jon and got some on his hand. He then lightly applied it to the spot that had been missed. While he did this the human murmured lightly massaging it into the skin and surrounding area.

Jonathan’s breathing leveled out and he almost started purring before Geoffrey softly said, _"I’ll talk to the director about it today if you’d like. I’m sure there’s a way we could ensure you don’t have to go through that again, I know you love driving and don’t always want to ride with me.”_ Noticing the distressed look returning in the alien’s eyes, _“Or we could figure something else out, maybe there’s someone you could talk to at the office to work through it?”_

Not wanting to talk about it, Jonathan hastily got up grabbed his daily smoothie and took a couple of drinks to help settle his stomach and his nerves before they left for work. After finishing a few more morning routines, the men gathered up all of their stuff they would need for the day and headed together to Geoffrey’s car. They headed to Headquarters splitting off to take care of their morning duties.

Geoffrey checked in with the Priwen Special Divisions unit that the agent commanded a couple of years back. They were still officially at Geoffrey’s disposal when he needed extra resources, but the man preferred working alone most of the time. Declán had been the one coordinating the intelligence gathering on the recent murders.

_“Hi boss,”_ the man said.

_“You know I don’t stand on formalities… Mr. O’Connell,”_ Geoffrey replied gruffly.

_“Oi you can stop that I was only messing with you. You’re wound tighter than a powder keg today,”_ Declán chuckled.

Geoffrey smirked briefly before asking, _“Has Nickolai or the rest of team found anything else yet?”_

_“No, nothing substantial. They said there was a new pub that just opened up recently near two of the victim’s houses, but no further leads have turned up.”_

_“Let me know when they return or if they report something in the meantime.”_

_“Will do McCullum,”_ O’Connell waved as Geoffrey growled softly and made his way to his office. The rest of the morning the agent worked on paperwork and delegated smaller cases to the rest of Priwen. All the while he told himself he wasn’t procrastinating on the report from the recent murder.

Jonathan spent his morning with rotations on the small ward they kept on site. Usually it wasn’t too busy, but today he did have one interesting case of a Tarlaxian from customs and immigrations needing something for a severe skin rash. The Tarlaxi had very sensitive skin, and were prone to allergic reactions to other species bodily fluids. The patient had not gotten it checked out for two weeks due to embarrassment and fear of reprisal. Dr. Reid had reassured her that it was ok, and that he wouldn’t be sharing medical information unless she gave him permission to, because that would be a violation of patient confidentiality. He prescribed her some antihistamines and a soothing cream that worked with her biology and sent her on her way.

After his rotation he made his way to his office passing by Dr. Branagan as she left her office. _“Good day Doctor Reid,”_ she called out stepping aside so he could pass.

Reid replied, _“Ah Doctor Branagan how are you doing today?”_

she gave him a small smile and said, _“I’m doing well Jonathan, I was just off to see another patient now.”_ Gwyneth was the London Branch’s psychiatrist. She could be one of the sternest women on staff, but she was sharp as a tack and worked extremely well with helping agents dealing with the difficult stresses they faced on the job. She had expertise with PTSD victims in particular.

Jonathan knew that Geoffrey would want him to talk to Branagan about his problem but he wasn’t ready yet. Besides the alien thought to himself it wouldn’t happen often enough to be a big issue. Nodding he bid her good day and headed for his office to do more research on his stomach acid, additive. He lost sense of time until his mobile went off in his pocket. Looking at it he saw that the clock had just reached 4 p.m.

He shook his head and looked down to see that he had indeed zoned out while working, and had already started testing a couple of prototype enzymes. Checking his notes and the test tubes, he assessed that he could afford to leave the experiments running while he ate lunch with Geoffrey. With that he cleaned up and took his smoothie down to the mess hall on the fourth floor.

_“Over here Jon,”_ Geoffrey called out to him in a booming voice from across the loud hall. Letting off a shy chirp, Jonathan made his way over near the back corner where his human was seated. Geoffrey usually sat alone or with his Priwen cohort when the doctor couldn't eat with him, but today Elisabeth and Ausana from Evidence Testing had joined the agent. As Jon neared Geoffrey moved over in the booth to make room for him to sit down. Once Reid had scooted into the booth Geoffrey had raised the back of his hand to Jon’s neck briefly and whispered, _“missed you.”_

Jonathan had chirped quietly at the affection before grabbing and drinking his smoothie. After not eating last night and being busy earlier, he was ravenous. Geoffrey’s cooking was good, and the smoothie tasted delicious Jon thought.

_“Elisabeth and Ausana were just filling me in a little on the toxicology report from the last victim,”_ the agent said between mouthfuls of leftover brisket.

_“What he means,”_ Ausana said glaring playfully at Geoffrey before turning to Jonathan and continuing, _“is that I have discovered definitive proof this time that the killer is digesting the victims and eating them. The sample your human brought me was highly concentrated gastric secretions mixed with what I assume was liquified human based on the readings.”_

That caused the doctor’s eyebrows to raise in surprise as he asked, _“Are you saying that the killer eats in the same manner as I do?”_

Ausana replied stabbing at her salad, _“we don’t know for sure if it’s the exact same process but we believe it to at least be similar. The most fascinating part of this though is that the killer is clever. They are staging theses fluids as highly concentrated forms of typical industrial chemicals, to throw off our scientists. We’re sure the perpetrator is fooling the human police with this as well.”_

Elisabeth cut in, _“What my dear Ausana is trying to say is that we might be able to use this to triangulate the area the killer is operating in better.”_

Ausana preened under her girlfriend’s praise before stating, _“That’s correct. We might also be able to locate the chemicals they are using to mask their digestive fluids.”_

_“What about the way the culprit is killing them, any clues?”_ Geoffrey asked.

Ausana cleared her throat before stating, _“I still think it’s too early to tell sadly. All of the victim profiles are different. It’s very much as if they don’t care who or what they are. The second victim wasn’t a human they were, Klophan if I remember correctly. The best we can tell is that the criminal is eating them by turning their insides into soup, masking that fact with chemicals, is killing seemingly indiscriminately, and finally that they are torturing them beforehand because each of their remains are marred by various lacerations and injuries."_

“ _Maybe I could have my Priwen operatives take a look and see if they can find any other similarities,”_ Geoffrey stated. Motioning to Jonathan so he could get up the agent continued, _“We’ll be sure to look into this, buíochas nmhná.”_

Geoffrey had wanted to go up to talk to Priwen but Johnathan convinced him that the doctor needed to check on his experiments as they exited the mess hall.

As they stepped out of the lift on the seventh floor Edgar Swansea’s voice called out, _“Johnathan my friend I was looking for you.”_ Geoffrey was immediately on edge. Of course, out of all the Stole bastards in research and development, it had to be Swansea they ran into. The man idolized the doctor and was always excessive in his groveling. Growling Geoffrey imagined all the ways he could be more productive with his time, while the two talked.

The human was fascinated with Jonathan’s species and was trying to work on technologies that improved cloaking and camouflaging gear. So far, the man had not made anything worth noting but he always came to talk to the doctor about some new project or other.

_“Thank you, Edgar, but I really must be going. I need to check on a few things before I start working closely with McCullum on his case.”_

_“Okay Jonathan, I’ll talk to you later then,”_ Swansea said sadly like the all the wind had been taken out of his sails.

Once the man had disappeared into the elevator the two made their way to Jonathan’s office. _“Sorry about that Geoffrey, I know you hold no patience for the man. I thank you for not picking a fight with him… this time,”_ Jonathan said with a tiny jovial smile.

_“Uh-huh,”_ Geoffrey huffed only slightly miffed.

_“I just need a little bit of time to check on these vials then we can go talk to your men,”_ the doctor said looking at the centrifuge before turning it off. He took the vials and put them on a couple of racks before he placed one in the cooler next to his workspace and the other in a secure location out of the way. _“I’m making good progress, I’ll let these sit overnight and I’ll check on them tomorrow.”_

As Reid was cleaning up Geoffrey asked, _“Did you remember to water Lisa?”_

_“No but I did add the potting soil you got for her. Here give her some of this,”_ the doctor said handing a partially filled water pitcher to the agent.

After that they made their way up to McCullum’s taskforce on floor eight. Opening the doors to the Priwen Command Center, Geoffrey barked out, _“Oi Declán got something for me?”_

The man turned and motioned for the two to join him over at a bank of screens. O’Connell started, _“Nothing much as of yet but I did just get off the phone with Nickolai. His team is heading back early the weather is making it difficult to collect anything meaningful now. We’re expected to have about another foot of snow by tomorrow. All we can really do is lay the ground work so we can try to trace this bastard. I’ve got Emrys and Kathryn working on compiling the victim profiles so we will be able to cross reference everything as the case unfolds. Rhiannon is helping pull in all the medical and forensic evidence.”_

_“Sounds good, I’m going to go talk to Reid about the case, bring him up to speed since he’ll be helping me out in the field,”_ Geoffrey said, only just realizing a second too late what he had let slip.

Several heads turned as the room went quiet. O’Connell turned to Geoffrey looking like the Cheshire cat. He started, _“You’re actually going to have a partner again after all this time? What did you do to cause director Talltree punish you I wonder? Why did he assign doctor Reid…? Oh, I get it,”_ Declán said with a knowing smirk. _“He did it because Jonathan is the only one in this crazy place that can handle you properly,”_ he said cackling wildly with glee.

That caused Geoffrey’s hackles to rise, but before the agent could retaliate, the doors burst open as a team of five walked in with outerwear still covered in snow and frost. Spotting Geoffrey in the center of the room Nickolai bounded over and pulled the man a bear hug, lifting him off the ground slightly as he warmly shouted, _“Boss, good to see you!”_ The Russian man was always overly affectionate in his greetings. He was all smiles, making up for the rest of his team, who looked collectively like they were one breeze away from freezing to death.

Elain moved to set her equipment bag down. The woman wasted no time saying, _“I’ve found a couple more traces of fluid, and possibly some hair samples, although evidence testing will have to look at it first. Peter also took some witness statements that we’ll enter into the database later, after we’ve warmed up,”_ she said shivering a little.

They stayed and chatted a little longer but eventually the boys made their exit to Geoffrey’s office. Geoffrey angrily stomped over to a small couch along one of the walls and slid into it. After a moment of Jon standing in place Geoffrey sighed and said, _“I’m not mad at yeh Jon.”_

The doctor tilted his head to look at the human as he sat down beside him. Geoffrey leaned into the alien and said with a tired smile, _“I might be mad at the director but I’m not angry with you. I’m scared that you might get hurt somehow, field work can be hazardous to one’s health.”_

Jon just chirped quietly as he rubbed circles into the agent’s back. _“You know I am more than capable of field work my dear agent. And I heal quicker than you do,”_ he said teasing softly.

_“But… you could get stabbed or, or worse…”_ Geoffrey said, his mother’s cold dead stare flashing across his mind for a second.

_“None of that Geoffrey, I know you’re worried but there is no reason to panic so. If you are that concerned, I could brush up on my field training for a bit to reassure you.”_ That seemed to calm his human down some. Glancing up at the clock on the opposite wall the doctor said, _“It’s getting late and with the snow coming in I think we should head home before it hits us. We could turn in early for a change.”_

Looking in the alien’s eyes, McCullum wasn’t able to keep up his dour mood for long. _“Oh alright you make a good point Jon.”_

Jonathan got up first holding out a hand to his human and teased, _“Of course, I always make good points my love.”_ The agent's gaze softened at that as he took the offered hand and got up. Together they prepared themselves and went home to snuggle up close together for the cold winter night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> buíochas nmhná - Thanks, ladies
> 
> Irish Gaelic is beautiful but also quite complex to find accurate information for. If there is an error let me know.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Graphic Violence (murder) and Body Horror

The snow was still falling, blanketing the world in a white sheet of tranquility. Reflective vermilion eyes scanned the home from a distance. Tonight, the prey would be easy pickings the onlooker thought. The stalker shifted into the shape of an average man’s height before strolling closer. Unassuming, yet strong he studied the dwelling before him. The building looked strange in its architecture. Blocky and with far too many windowed walls. It was a two-story building tucked in small glade back from the road by a long tree covered driveway. He was able to track the occupants with ease. One was asleep in one of the upstairs rooms, the other on the ground floor moving through the dimly lit rooms.

He would need to draw out the one from the ground level for better chance of at executing his plans. He checked the electric pole not far from where he stood and made his decision. The shapeshifter cut the line running to the house and turned back to watch what the conscious human would do. The person looked to be young male no older than his early twenties. He waited just in the tree line with his kit at the ready.

Henry was just grabbing a late-night snack before heading back up to his room. As he neared the glass staircase all lights went out. Cursing he felt his way back to the kitchen where there was a small utility closet adjacent to the room. He pulled out a torch and switched it on. It appeared that all power had went out. Grumbling he went upstairs and got dressed to go inspect the breaker and if there was something else wrong. The breakers in the fuse box all checked out. Stepping out the front door he walked the short distance to the electric pole.

Reaching the pole, he looked down at the cut wire before someone came up and put him in a chokehold knocking him out. The stalker wasted no time with this human ravenous as he was. He dropped his humanoid form and inserted a proboscis like appendage in his prey’s mouth. He injected his soon to be meal with his digestive fluids. It would take some time for it to work, before he could feast. He turned towards the house and the remaining occupant, entered through the open doorway, and then made his way upstairs. His second meal was in the far bedroom at the corner of the house past two other bedrooms. This room overlooked the driveway.

The sounds of Abba’s Momma Mia emanated loudly from the room indicating that the occupant wouldn’t hear the shifter enter. He opened the door to see a woman in her bed groggily lifting her head off the pillow and rubbing her eyes as she heard someone enter her room. After a brief moment she looked up expecting one of her flatmates before she confusingly called out, _“Shiloh is that you? Wha…”!_

The creature looked at her with glee as he anticipated all the fun he would have with Judy. He had fantasized about this for some time, since he met her at the Imperial College of London. She never thought to suspect any ill will from Shiloh as he taught her among the chemistry undergrads. How satisfying it was, as he rushed her, still disoriented from sleep. He stuffed a gag in her mouth and tapped it so that any screams would be greatly muffled as Abba sung out, _“You know that I’m not that strong.”_ He wanted this meal to be his desert. To that end he would elevate the taste by using his collection of knives he had brought with him. He made the first cut into Judy’s pale smooth flesh as she screamed around the restraint to the sound of _“My my, how can I resist you?”_ He toyed around with her for some time while he waited for her fear reach a pinnacle.

The killer lost track of time but eventually after a satisfying nick near her carotid artery, Shiloh smelled Judy’s fear peak tantalizingly. Her breathing had become labored from all the stress and blood loss. It was at that climax, that the creature stabbed violently into her abdomen as the Abba songs final refrain played, _“My my, I could never let you go.”_ He stabbed her a couple of more times as the song repeated, reveling in the blood spatter that painted the room. Shifting again he inserted his haustellum and injected her with his dissolving venom.

The killer made his way back into the hallway noticing that he could hear a third human in one of the bedrooms. The person was still very much asleep, so he decided to consume his first kill he’d left out in the snow. The first victim had been decently filling and after he was done, he dumped half of the acid he had brought with him. It was enough sulfuric acid to mask his feeding habits from the pathetic coppers.

Shiloh made sure that there was nothing left that could trace back to him, before going back inside and up the stairs to finish his dessert. Careful of the still sleeping human he entered Judy’s bedroom and closed the door gently. Then he sat down to consume the nutritious smoothie that had been alive just twenty minutes ago. After he was done with the last of his meal, he gave Judy’s remains the same treatment the other had received. Thinking about the third person caused Shiloh to linger a while outside the human’s door contemplating his options.

As he debated killing for a third time that night, he heard the sound of a moving vehicle drawing nearer. If they were coming down the driveway it wouldn’t be long until it passed by the pole and the first victims’ body. Best case scenario, they wouldn’t notice anything was wrong until they found Judy’s body. Shiloh no longer had the leisure of time; he’d best make a swift exit now. Besides he thought to himself, he was so satiated from his double meal that he felt the pull to undergo his first fragmentation. The acid would mask his digestive fluids nicely and he didn’t need to worry about prints or other DNA as he just shifted for every murder. It was the reason why he was able to evade authorities thus far.

He darted out the back door back into the trees as the vehicle stopped at the pole. He circled back around, grabbed his tools, and made his way back to his home.

Jonathan woke up with a sharp stabbing pain in his chest for the sixth night in a row. Not every human illness was communicable to his species, but the flu could explain some of his symptoms. It had been manageable the last few days, but now it was impossible for the alien to ignore. The blinding pain currently had him immobilized at the edge of the bed. In addition to the chest pains he had exhibited intermittent fevers, mood swings, irritability, and fatigue.

Startled awake by Jonathan’s movements, Geoffrey gazed up sleepily and asked, _“Jon what’s wrong?”_ He noticed Jonathan was doubled over the side of the bed.

_“Hurts,”_ whined the alien between gasps of breath.

Geoffrey got up quickly and made his way to over to Jonathan. Kneeling he asked, _“Is it getting worse? What do you need me to do?”_

_“Bathroom,”_ was all Jonathan could get out.

_“Okay love, that’s it, easy does it. I’ve got you,”_ the agent replied lifting Jon’s arm around his neck so he could get him to the bathroom. It was slow going and every twitch and gasp from Jonathan caused Geoffrey to grow more worried. Once they were in the bathroom, he sat Jon on the side of the bath and grabbed a hand towel from the linen closet. He wet it with cool water and gave it to Jonathan as he sat down beside him.

He glanced at his boyfriend face bunched up in an agonized scowl _. “Jon it might be time you got checked out at headquarters…”_

_“No!”_ Jonathan uncharacteristically growled. Eyes wide, the doctor caught himself before saying, _“Sorry my love I’m sure it will pass soon.”_ Wincing at another stabbing pain the doctor leaned into his human in desperate need of contact.

_“Have you looked at it in your true form?”_ Geoffrey asked softly carding his hand through Jonathan’s hair.

The Xenopteran gave an exhausted chirp as he relaxed into Geoffrey’s hold. _“No, not since about two days ago.”_

_“Maybe you should check again,”_ Geoffrey hummed rubbing soothing circles into Jon’s back.

_“Will you stay if I do?”_

_“Of course, Jon if you want me too. Do you think you have the energy to stand up right now?”_

_“Yes, he replied shakily.”_

Geoffrey held onto the doctor as he got to his feet and his form started to change. Jonathan rarely shifted fully when there wasn’t enough space, but he had to admit something was very wrong with his body and he needed to check. It felt worse than the flu. Maybe it was pneumonia he thought briefly as another pain racked his body. He tried to be mindful of his human and the fact that their bathroom certainly was too small for both of them to fit comfortably inside. He kept his wings tight to his body and hunched on his legs, trying to look at his chest in the mirror above the sink.

What Jonathan saw sent him staggering backwards. There in the middle of his chest, was a newly formed indentation protected by a thickened bony ridge around the rim. It was oblong and looked to be roughly one foot long and five and a half inches wide. Geoffrey saw his boyfriend freaking out and reached out to touch him as he asked, _“What’s wrong Jon?”_

Said Xenopteran was chirping and cursing in his language as he now saw undeniable proof that his body had changed. He knew what this was, and yet all his medical training kind of went out the window as his brain short-circuited. Jonathan had thought there would have been more time, before he had to think about such things.

Too late now he thought. Trying to force panic away Jonathan started to shift back into his human skin. Once he was done, he nearly toppled Geoffrey over in an attempt to get as much skin contact as he could. _“Love you’re starting to scare be what’s going on? Is it something bad?”_

_“No….”_ Jonathan replied _, “it’s just super awkward and I wasn’t expecting for it to happen that way. I mean I had heard there was some discomfort but I have been miserable for almost a week. I must contact my… lifegiver and closest sibling about this.”_

_“Reid,”_ Geoffrey exasperatingly said, _“focus, you still haven’t explained anything. And what is a lifegiver?”_

_“I’m sorry Geoffrey, I…”_ Jonathan lowered his gaze and looked away timidly, which made the human all the more suspicious as to what the alien was embarrassed about. After a moment Jon looked back into his eyes and started again, _“I have discovered that I am now capable of procreation.”_

_“And that means what exactly?”_ Geoffrey asked cautiously, feeling a bit dazed.

The doctor rapidly spit out in an abnormally high pitch, _“It means my life cradle is fully formed.”_ For the first time since McCullum had known the alien, and they had started dating, Jonathan face was flushed red with embarrassment.

_“Huh?”_ the human replied totally baffled and distracted by his partner’s blushing.

Slowly the alien said, _“I have developed the necessary organs that allows me to procreate. The closest translation of this phenomena into human English would be, life cradle.”_

_“Is that normal for you? Is that was caused you all that pain this last week?”_

Jonathan answered back, _“Yes, on both accounts, although I find myself wholly unprepared due to the fact that this has happened to me earlier than I was expecting which is why I wanted to contact my family. The closest human approximation for lifegiver, is mother so I would very much like to talk to them.”_

_“Is it bad for this to be happening early?”_ Geoffrey asked again worried for Jon

_“No… not necessarily, it just means other stuff will follow and I’m not sure how best to explain it all to you.”_

Now it was Geoffrey’s turn to flounder. _“I mean I’m here for you Jon you know that, I know it hasn’t been very long since we moved in together but, I’m not one to up and leave because of some issue or bump in the road comes alo….”_

Jonathan interrupted him by leaning in and kissing him lightly before withdrawing and saying _, “It means that I capable of mating now, Geoffrey my love.”_

Flustered the human blushed. _“So, you basically went through alien puberty,”_ Geoffrey quipped shyly.

_“Sort of, it’s a bit more complicated than that though. It means that my body has recognized and accepted you as a suitable mate. It means that instinctively my body has felt safe enough to undergo the necessary changes.”_

Geoffrey a few minutes to absorb the everything before asking _, “Will your pain go away now or are there any other issues or complications with these changes that we should look out for?”_

_“Not from this no, I will….”_ At that moment their work phones went off simultaneously, ending any further discussion. Geoffrey was able to reach his first, taking the call. Reid’s hearing was sensitive enough that he could make out most of the conversation.

_“Agent McCullum speaking.”_

The director’s voice rang out, _“Ah Geoffrey it looks like there is no time to allow for Reid to train further as was originally planned. I need you both to head out to the West End immediately. There has been a double homicide this time. I am sending you both as well as Priwen Alpha. The team should be on scene when you arrive. This is the quickest we’ve been privy to the killings. We have two other teams nearby on standby and observation. Hopefully when you arrive the site will be locked down and you won’t have to run neuralyzer detail as well.”_

_“Anything else we need to know or bring, sir?”_

_“I trust both you and doctor Reid’s judgment on this, now get to it!”_

Geoffrey turned to see Jonathan making his way out of the bathroom panting as if he had run a marathon. _“Do you need any help love?”_

_“No. The pain is already subsiding, I’m just feeling fatigued and a little weird, like stuff is just slightly off.”_

_“Don’t push yourself too much. I’ll get your smoothie ready after I get dressed so you can have some extra time. Let me know if you need help,”_ He said laying a hand tenderly on the alien’s cheek before he quickly tossed on some clothes before heading to the kitchen.

Jonathan made his way slowly to the closet and almost picked out one of his usual suits. Instead he pondered what would work best considering he might have to be outside for an extended period of time. He dug through the closet for some warmer clothing, finding a warm knitted sweater and a nice wool coat. He got dressed relatively quick, although putting the undershirt and sweater on had caused him some discomfort as his chest was still very sensitive. He put in a fresh pair of contacts and went to join Geoffrey in the kitchen.

They didn’t linger for very long, opting to take Jon’s smoothie only because it would be difficult for him to eat without it. They hopped into Geoffrey’s Aston Martin and they sped their way from Whitchapel. When they reached the residence, it was still pitch-black outside. They parked and made their way up the driveway noticing the cordoned off area near an electric pole. A short distance away Geoffrey spotted Priwen Taskforce Alpha leader Volkov standing beside Elain Prichard and another man that he couldn’t identify.

Goeffrey walked up to Nickolai and Elain he caught the end of a conversation. _“She was my fiancé, and now… now she’s gone.”_

_“Sir,”_ Elain said laying on a motherly tone, _“Is there anything else you could give us that would help us catch this killer?”_

Though the man was still openly weeping he was able to reply with _, “There was these series of noises off in the bushes and trees not far from the pole and where I stopped.”_ Elain handed him a handkerchief and he blew into it before saying _, “It… It sounded almost like a bird chirping mixed with random bits that sounded like a bat chittering. I was out of my car by then and the sounds reverberated around the whole clearing. I even felt nausea after it fell quiet, even though it felt like something was happening that I couldn’t see or hear.”_

Elian’s eyebrow rose as she spoke, _“That’s some oddly specific descriptions Dan; what makes you so sure what these sounds were?”_

_“I’m a chiroptologist, I study bats for a living and dabble in bird watching on the side. These sounds sound very similar to an amalgamation of different species. I haven’t heard anything like it before.”_

_“And you’re sure that is all sir?”_ Elain said with a contemplative stare.

_“Yes, I do believe so, please… Find that bastard soon, so no one else loses a loved one,”_ the man said as he continued to weep.

_“We’ll try our best Mr. Sheffield. Now if I could have you come with me and talk to our field medic to get you checked out. Try to get some rest Dan,”_ she said sympathetically as she walked the man to the on-site medic for a checkup and a round of the neuralyzer.

Nickolai turned to the men and motioned them to follow him. _“First victim, male, in his early twenties and judging from what’s left of his body was taken without a struggle.”_ Geoffrey nodded and turned to watch Jonathan who looked like he was onto something. Watching him walk close to the edge of the clearing near the body he found a spot where it looked like human shaped shoes had treaded near the trees. Sure enough, both of them searching turned up what looked to be like an empty container.

Jonathan pushed Geoffrey back as he said, _“be careful Geoffrey, I’m pretty sure we just found the container our killer stored his chemicals in.”_ Jonathan leaned over and noticed there wasn’t any smell. _“I suspect it could be pure sulfuric acid, there’s no odor coming from the container. We could send it to the lab to verify.”_

The walked back over to Nickolai and told him about their discovery _. “Sounds good I’ll have one of us collect for testing. I’ll take you both up to other body now if you’d like.”_ With that the man directed them inside the residence, and up the glass spiral staircase.

Once at the top, Geoffrey and Jonathan both noticed bloody foot prints coming from the direction of the far room. Stepping as carefully as they could to avoid tampering with the evidence, they reached the bedroom. The crime scene was gruesome. Arterial blood was spattered across the room in various locations tainting the once calm trappings of a college freshman. Much like the other victim outside though, this body was only left with skin and a couple of metal fillings intact. The main difference was that the victim had been savagely attacked in her own home without regard to the other resident down the hall asleep.

Shaking his head Geoffrey sighing he said, _“This whole mess is bollucks. We have nothing else to go on this time neither.”_

Nickolai tried to placate the man saying, _“Not necessarily boss, there is a lot more evidence this time around because the scene is fresh. Plus, we’ve never had a witness statement quite like this before. You will just have to wait for us to transport everything back to base and enter it into the system.”_

Groaning McCullum said _, “Guess you’re right, not much more we can do here but get in your way. We’ll head back to headquarters and meet up with Declán and go from there.”_

Jonathan saw Geoffrey’s distress building so he reached out and took the human’s hand saying, _“this way my love,”_ as he guided them back to the car.

Geoffrey broke down once they were in the vehicle and safely out of the watch of other people. _“I don’t know what to do Jon, I feel as if we’re not making a lick of progress in this. I’m not even sure if we’ve managed to find all of his victims so far. It feels like it’s getting worse by the day, and yet we’re no closer than when we found the first body.”_

Jonathan hated that he couldn’t comfort the human in the way that he so desperately needed at that moment. Due to the confines of the car, he could only hold onto the agent and hum soothingly while he rubbed circles into the back of Geoffrey’s hand. Reid vowed to take him up to his office before they truly went to work for the day. That would give his human some space to compose himself before talking with Priwen. And if that meant Jonathan also got to hold him for a little while, he most certainly would not mind keeping him from leaving straight away for the briefing.

Shiloh made it back to its residence feeling elated and buzzing with energy. Oh, how Judy looked as they played with her. She had been a most wonderful dessert, a cherry on top of the proverbial cake. The killer knew it was time to fragment, they’d felt it in every tingling fiber of their being. Shiloh hastily moved furniture out of the way and placed a large tarp down onto the floor. They were glad that the residence was out in the middle of nowhere with no close neighbors. Despite that it was still withing in London’s outskirts. Many would be appalled at the thought of such a well-regarded graduate student living in such conditions, but it made it easier for the alien to carry out its desires.

Satisfied that there was enough space Shiloh morphed into their grotesque true form. The alien did not care how it looked, only that they were well fed and now able to split into two. Squelching could be heard as the its body began to vertically separate down the middle of its abdomen. Their bilateral symmetry meant that after fragmentation two identical life forms would emerge, fully functioning, and starving. 

The process was laboriously slow, but worth it. Two bodies were able to cover more ground and feast more effectively. If there was any suspicion or issues, they could merge back into one to hide. It also meant that Shiloh the TA and graduate student, could keep up appearances better because there wouldn’t be as much of a need to take off a leave of absence.

Once both creatures stood fully formed and separated, they morphed back into humanoid shapes. At first both took on the appearance of Shiloh before the newly created being morphed slightly out of sync, looking related by not identical. Perfect Shiloh thought as it set about cleaning the mess up from the split. They would both need to feed again soon Shiloh mused already thinking where to hunt next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan's Outfit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19t7CZnYRp1FIRa3vF2YnXnJwth7yZRrm/view?usp=sharing  
> McCullum's Outfit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qyZ05eiSvWktETrXqt6-mjA7AaIvx28c/view?usp=sharing
> 
> The Killer's True form (Art by the lovely Lictor): https://tyrantwache.tumblr.com/post/632983802295222272/spoiler-alert-true-form-of-the-murderer-based


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: possible depression, death, and trauma from witnessing a parent's murder
> 
> Shout out to Lictor for the amazing art that still inspires this fic. Chapter art can be found here: https://twitter.com/tyrantwache/status/1328685291092185088
> 
> Also shout out to Bunny from Pembroke Hospital who allowed me to include one of his OCs Calvin: https://www.instagram.com/p/CF14n5kFjwH/?igshid=av3v5ydqz4ov

They made it back to headquarters in relative silence. Geoffrey was still visibly distressed and closed off. Reid worried that his human was experiencing some of the symptoms of acute stress disorder. He knew Geoffrey was usually the one to take control of the situation, and while not a calm man, he was at least able to lead exceptionally well in high stress environments. As they stepped into the access elevator though, he could see that Geoffrey was shaking slightly. The agent didn’t move to punch in the button or to scan his ID. Jonathan purred attempting to soothe the agent as he reached out and hit the button for the medical floor. He scanned his ID before turning to the agent, _“Geoffrey my love, I need to scan your ID as well.”_

Startled, but still out of it, the man handed over his card. Jonathan scanned both of their cards before leaning back into Geoffrey as the automated voice called out, **_Access granted welcome back doctor Reid and special agent G._** As they ascended Reid wrapped his arms around Geoffrey rubbing circles into his back. The doctor noticed his breathing was a little shallow and the man’s skin was clammy.

Certain he made the right choice; he hummed at the agent as the doors opened. Geoffrey followed the alien out of the lift but soon let off a confused grunt as he mumbled, _“this idn’t the way to Priwen Jon.”_

_“No, it is not my dear agent, but you are quite frankly in no condition to face them at present,”_ Jonathan said as he guided them down the hall and into the medical wing.

At that a little fire returned to the Irishman’s eyes as he snappishly replied, _“I’m fine Jon_. _I’m not some meatachán.”_

_“Uh-huh,” the doctor chuckled as he opened the door to his office and dragged the despondent human inside._

Doctor Reid deposited Geoffrey into one of the plush chairs by his desk before going over to where he had a small kitchenette for when he was lost in research, or an occasion such as this. Jonathan filled up a kettle and got it started boiling. He turned back around and dragged the other chair to sit close to the human. He thought a moment before reaching out and taking Geoffrey’s calloused hands in his own and pulling the man into his lap.

Geoffrey’s mind was racing as he sat catatonically perched in one of Reid’s chairs, flashes of details from all the crimes that he had been investigating over the past few weeks flooded his thoughts. He felt like had lost control of his breathing, as he thought about how out of control the situation felt to him. He should have been able to find a clue to break the case open by now.

  
The agent felt Jon’s skilled palms reach out and draw his hands into the doctor’s lap as he attempted to massage the worry out in even calming strokes. Sill McCullum’s mind tormented him; the bodies were starting to pile up quicker than they were able to track them down. How could this alien be escaping all of Priwen’s best scouts? There had to be something they, or rather, he was missing.

A rush of surprise drowned out his dark thoughts as he was pulled into Jonathan’s lap. Looking at the alien’s face he noticed that Jon was vocalizing something in between purring. Jonathan just held his gaze awhile longer, before leaning in to rest his forehead on Geoffrey’s. With his dulcet baritone Jonathan spoke softly, _“There you are my love. It’s not good to dwell alone on this. You have been doing everything you can Geoffrey. No one thinks you are failing at this. Not one man, human or otherwise, should be expected to catch this killer alone.”_

_“But I should at least be seeing something to go off of. To say this is frustrating would be an understatement. The number of victims is mounting, at an accelerating rate I might add. And all we have to show for this and the amount of bodies is what; the deceased’s skin, digestive fluids, and sulfuric acid left at the scene?” McCullum said indignantly. “Surely you can see that I have missed something along the way.”_

_“I don’t think that for a minute my dear agent. You and Priwen have diligently investigated every crime to the best of your ability. I’m sure this is why the director wished me to assist you. This is getting to you much more than you have let on to anyone, I see.”_

_“Don’t try to doctor me on this Jon,”_ Geoffrey warned, tensing as if he was squaring up for a fight.

“ _I wouldn’t dream of it, Geoffrey, unless you really need it,”_ the alien teased.

_“Yeh, yeh…”_ McCullum huffed drawing back as the kettle started whistling over along the wall.

There was a slight dance as they had to disentangle themselves from a chair not meant for two people of their stature. They each made a cuppa before heading up to meet with Priwen.

Entering the nerve center, they noticed a flurry of activity. Declán was barking out orders to some technicians about hooking up another monitor to the array of them along the back wall.

_“Just a little more to the left boy’s don’t want it to be mistaken as a recreational TV,”_ the man chuckled, noticing his boss out of the corner of his eye.

“ _Hi McCullum, finally decided to grace us with your presence?”_ O’Connell sated, raising an eyebrow and smirking at the doctor who was huddled closely to the right of Geoffrey.

_“More like to see if you’ve burned the place down or not,”_ the agent quipped back having regained some of the fire back in his voice.

_“Oi, we’re not that bad, you git. At least we’re better than those Stole bastards on level six,”_ he chuckled amused with himself.

_“Do you have any new information for us?” Geoffrey asked face closing back off into his perpetual grumpy scowl he had when on the hunt._

_“Nothing new I’m afraid other than the interview from the man that found the bodies, Dan Sheffield I believe. It looks like our mysterious killer may be using a supersonic language much like your good doctor over there,”_ Declán said with a twinkling glimmer in his eyes. _“Perhaps there will be a lead if you look into that more.”_

_“Any further DNA or chemical evidence?”_

_“Nothing that we haven’t already encountered.”_

_“Anything else show up as abnormal in this?”_

_“Yeah, I guess you could say there was a noticeable difference in how the perpetrator killed the two victims,” O’Connell started with a more serious tone. “The first victim, the one who was male, was attacked from behind, didn’t even get a chance at seeing what was going on in his last moments. There were relatively few other injuries, most if not all of them could be explained by injuries that occurred postmortem. Now the other kill… That was not only gruesome, it was the one the killer spent the most time with to date by the looks of it. There were multiple stab wounds to the chest and other abrasions as the woman tried to defend herself. I get the feeling the killer was playing with his food so to speak and that he must have known the victim at least somewhat to have attacked her like that.”_

_“I guess we’ll just hafta pay attention to how he kills in the future,”_ the agent bit out tiredly.

_“Yeah but this is a good clue McCullum; it could lead us to them eventually if they start hunting people they know. It would show up as a possible point of origin, like where they work, where they live, or even a location they frequent.”_ Clasping a hand onto his bosses’ shoulder for a minute he spoke, _“I know it sucks losing people but all we can do is to try mitigating the collateral and catch the fucker as quickly as we can.”_

With that Geoffrey and Jonathan spent the rest of the day researching and examining the cases from start to finish that Priwen had entered into an elaborate database, with detailed connections to help highlight even the slightest patterns.

It was nearing the end of the day when they had started briefing Priwen with everything they had gone through when the door opened and Edgar Swansea rushed in through the opening followed by the Replicant engineer Calvin.

Volkov was the first one to bark out, _“To whom do we owe the pleasure of Brotherhood engineers today?”_

Swansea took a moment to catch his breath before saying _, “Allow me to introduce you all to Calvin. We have been looking into the report of the serial killer using supersonic sounds and my partner here had an ingenious idea.”_

The four-armed man stepped forward meekly and in a quiet even voice said, _“I was just mentioning to Edgar here that if the killer is communicating using a language not detectable by human hearing, it would be difficult to track them with only a couple operatives able to hear them. I have been hypothesizing that there might be a way to give others the ability to hear these vocalizations.”_

Jonathan chimed in, _“Why not just develop a device that detected the presence of these sounds? Why go through the trouble of messing with human physiology?”_

The alien deflated visibly, hunching down slightly but still taller than the human engineer beside him _. “I understand the inherent risk but I believe it better than the alternative you suggested. While safer, a hand-held device wouldn’t be as effective in say a situation where you are having to chase the killer. It would be much better for the person to be able to hear and interpret the sounds in real time as if they had always been able to hear such sounds.”_

_“I see,”_ said Jonathan.

_“In any case I would need more time and research certainly, I just thought Priwen should be made aware of the possibility,”_ Calvin stated. _“I really believe this might bear fruit in helping with the investigations.”_

Edgar also said to Jonathan with a hopeful look in his eyes _, “We might also need some medical input in the future for this as well.”_

_“I’m sure that if this project gets off the ground that I would be happy to assist in any way that you may require, if it’s within my expertise,”_ Jonathan replied cordially nodding at the two engineers.

Glancing up at the clock Geoffrey noted that it was more than late enough for them to call it a day. Standing up apparently was the sign for everyone to disperse, the two engineers left first. Nickolai piped up once they were out of earshot, _“This idea sounds far-fetched boss. Be careful with what they try to sell you.”_

_“Aye, I’ll keep that in mind Nickolai,”_ Geoffrey said. With that he and Jonathan made to leave for home minds churning with new ideas.

Shiloh continued to finish cleaning the living room before moving to the kitchen where his other half was sitting on a bar stool lazily playing with Nibbles as she roamed around in her exercise ball on the countertop. _“We need to feed soon I’m absolutely famished already,”_ said Shiloh sitting down on the other bar stool gazing at the doppelganger curiously. Shiloh knew that the fragmentation was a normal biological response for their kind, but the alien didn’t know much beyond feed, grow, multiply, and repeat.

After some time, Shiloh’s counterpart spoke, _“Yes hungry, hunt soon.”_

_“I guess you should have a name if we’re in this together now,”_ the alien said.

_“Galen,”_ the other spoke in an even sort of lit to their voice in human form. They were soft spoken yet the cadence belied a hidden power behind the demeanor.

Shiloh thought about their recent hunts for a several minutes watching the small rodent tumbling laughably, seemingly content in her orb shaped prison. Touching the other alien caused a soft buzzing to spring up in Shiloh’s head. Much like picking up on a stream of someone’s consciousness, it sounded almost like an out of tune radio at first. 

Galen’s thoughts flitted over this link and painted a picture of them hunting a couple of people walking from the campus of a rival college. One of them carried the face of a rival graduate student who had rubbed Shiloh the wrong way back when they were undergraduates.

_“I like how you think,”_ Shiloh spoke aloud. Pulling away from Galen, the alien noticed the feeling of a radio going out of tune before fizzling out. So, this connection required them to be in close proximity to one another. Still it might come in handy Shiloh thought.

With that Shiloh set their eyes on planning for their next hunt with glee.

Geoffrey stopped the car just as the sun was starting to set. He turned to see Jonathan visibly relax a little as the last rays of the sun dipped behind the building. His alien doctor had grown increasingly fidgety as the day wore on. He knew both of them were feeling anxious from the day’s happenings, and they were definitely ready to be home. Still, Jonathan had all but barreled out of the vehicle like it was a race to get inside their flat. Geoffrey had to break into a rapid jog to catch up to his partner who was making his way briskly towards the lift. 

_“What has you so eager to rush home tonight Jon?”_ huffed Geoffrey a little winded from having to sprint moments ago.

_“I have just felt increasingly agitated all afternoon. It’s like this feeling like I’m constantly losing control of my human form.”_ Geoffrey gave him a slightly worried look. _“Don’t give me that look, I have no idea what is going on either.”_ Jonathan huffed exasperatedly. _“I know it sounds crazy but I have this intense need to get inside our home,”_ the alien said before mumbling, _“among other things.”_

_“What was that love?”_ Geoffrey said not sure what to do as the doctor paced in the confined space of the elevator. His beloved doctor was clearly upset over something, his gaze frantically darting from the human to other spots on the compartment’s walls.

_“It’s nothing Geoffrey,”_ Jonathan said as a faint whine escaped him as he backed into one of the far corners before becoming frustrated and resumed his back and forth stride. 

  
Agent McCullum was having none of it. _“Sure looks like somethin’ is wrong to me Jon. You’re practically pacin’ around like a caged animal.”_ The agent reached out and grabbed ahold of his boyfriend’s hands stilling his restless state. He then raised a hand and rested it on Jon’s cheek, noting how his doctor leaned into the affectionate touch purring deeply with his eyes closed _. “We’ll be home soon. Just a small short walk left after the elevator is stopped.”_

Jonathan opened his eyes and straitened up as the lift dinged their arrival to the 5th floor. His human held on to his hand even as Reid darted out of the elevator trying to reach the end of the hall as quickly as they could. All the while the doctor was vocalizing his displeasure of the whole situation. The alien needed to be home **_now_**! And he needed Geoffrey there. It was if his body was alight with all these strange biological imperatives and the only relief was for them to be home.

Unfortunately, they were only halfway down the hall when their next-door neighbor Clarence Crossley burst out of his flat. They hadn’t seen much of the eccentric man since he had moved in two months ago. Their first meeting was a lesson in patience as the man told them about his recent divorce and difficulty finding work. The man was very animated in his talking. He seemed nice enough if a little odd. He had also talked about serving overseas for some time before returning after an injury to a wife that did not understand, nor wish to see him through his anxieties.

Clarence saw them all but running down the hallway and intercepted them before they could reach their apartment. He seemed to have missed their holding hands as well as they were forced to come to a stop near his apartment. _“My good neighbors! I haven’t been able to speak with you both much have I? How rude of me. I hope life is treating you both well.”_

Jonathan had always had a soft spot for humans. Even ones that were once openly hostile, Geoffrey thought begrudgingly. As such Jonathan was usually happy to converse with Clarence on the rare time their paths crossed. If Geoffrey wasn’t mistaken, they had even struck up a small friendship, although Jon hadn’t mentioned it to him so he couldn’t be sure.

Jonathan tried to graciously end the conversation with his mild mannered, _“We are doing well my friend, but we really must be going. We have a lot of work to do and…”_

_“I understand but please wait one moment,”_ the man said before he turned and went back inside his home.

The man returned shortly with two plants in his arms. One, which he handed to Geoffrey, was a bonsai tree that had seen better days. _“To peace and harmony in your life! I know you mentioned being a part of law enforcement,”_ Clarence said meekly, still slightly intimidated by the infamous McCullum scowl. Quickly turning to Jonathan, he paced a healthier looking pot that looked remarkably similar to Lisa, in the alien’s arms before he could say anything. _“For you my friend I have a cutting from my rubber tree plant. May it bring you happiness and wealth. I was just thinking earlier that I wouldn’t be a good neighbor if I hadn’t given you both a single gift.”_

Seeing how his human was struck dumbfounded Reid smiled as he chuckled _, “I think traditionally it is we who should have given the gifts; however, it is with sincere thanks that we accept your generosity Clarence.”_

_“Yeah, well think of it as a friendly gesture of good will. I know we’ve talked in the past how much you love plants. But enough of that, I fear I have taken up much of your time already, you have said that you both had work to do.”_

Relieved that Clarence wasn’t going to wax poetic about some other manner of happening he’d encountered that day, Jonathan replied for them both briskly, _“Thank you again and have a nice evening Clarence.”_

_“Yeah, nice evening to you both,”_ Clarence said scurrying back inside his abode. Once Jonathan was sure Clarence was gone, he growled and took the agents hand and tugged him to their door. This startled Geoffrey briefly as he almost dropped the damaged bonsai tree. Frankly it was also really turning him on.

Jonathan was still growling while he tried to fumble with the keys one handed. After a minute had passed, he let off another almost imperceptible whine. Geoffrey shook his head before shoving the alien aside and handing him the other plant. Jon’s face was adorable, a mixture of surprise and anger at war with his usually stoic nature. _“Let me get it love, just a sec,”_ the man said, pulling out his key ring and unlocking their door with ease.

Knowing how uncomfortable the doctor had been, Geoffrey let his alien enter first. He made sure to lock the door after he made it inside. Jon had set the plants on the kitchen counter and disappeared, probably to their room he thought. He was still focused on the plants. The agent had his suspensions and went to grab an air horn from an alcove by the front door. To test his theory, he blew the horn at the bonsai tree. He heard a loud yelp through the central wall, before what sounded like someone throwing something at the wall.

Knowing the plants were bugged caused Geoffrey to sigh with humor. He checked every inch of the plants before finding two different devices, one in each pot. The agent took the devices and smashed them for good reason. Taking a few minutes to clean up the debris, he noticed the alien hadn’t ventured from where he was hiding.

Thinking he might have turned in early for the night left Geoffrey a little dejected. He made his way to the bedroom and spotted a Jonathan shaped lump under a mound of blankets. It looked like his boyfriend had built a nest partially on the floor between the wall and one side of their bed. The other part of it spilled over one side of their mattress. _“Jonathan, is everything alright?”_

There was rustling and whining as the alien emerged from his homemade den. Smiling Geoffrey made his way over to the bed where Jonathan leaned against the mattress of their platform bed. Hearing the doctor distressed whine, he leant down to caress his head. _“Love, what’s wrong?”_ Jonathan looked slightly feverish and the agent noticed he wasn’t wearing anything.

_“Everything was too warm, I had to cool down,”_ he stated, panting softly between strokes from Geoffrey and his own inhuman vocalizations.

_“You’ve built a lovely burrow for yourself I see,”_ the human hummed still running his hands through Jonathan’s hair. This caused the doctor to preen and purr in Geoffrey’s hands _. “Mind tellin’ me what all this is about sweetheart,”_ McCullum said, voice thick in his accent and soft as a whisper.

The doctor attempted to reply multiple times but he kept getting distracted in the physical touches his human lavished upon his heated flesh instead. More than one moan escaped him, lost only because Geoffrey couldn’t hear his Xenopteran biology broadcasting to all who could understand the vocalizations. Eventually the alien was able to pull back long enough to look the human in the eyes _. “I believe my body has made the choice for me concerning time.”_ When Geoffrey looked puzzled, he continued. _“All afternoon my body has felt on fire with a burning need to consummate our, for lack of a better word, bond.”_

The agent started visibly blushing at his ears and traveling down his face as the doctor continued in a decadent baritone, _“It has caused me to feel anxious and like I needed us to be home as fast as possible. What I’m trying to convey,”_ he said looking up at Geoffrey and purring, _“is that I’m nesting in preparation for a mating bond. I tried to fight these instincts off to not burden you with this, or to make you feel like you had to do anything for me, but I fear I could not hide it any longer once we got home…”_

Geoffrey could see the torment in Jonathan’s face and so he quickly slid over the side of the bed to join Jonathan on his level. He took both his hands and reached out to pull the alien into his embrace. The alien’s skin was clammy and heated. He cradled Jon in his arms humming to him saying, “It’s ok Jon, I might not understand completely about what you’re going through but, I accept everything about you. Sure, I may be clueless at first, but I’m willin’ to listen, and to do what makes you happy.”

Wrapped up in McCullum’s arms made the alien relax moderately, although Reid craved the skin to skin contact that his body desperately needed. _“Geoffrey,”_ the alien whined softly, _“I… I need your touch, but without the barrier of clothing.”_

“Ok love, give me a moment,” the human replied. Trying to be mindful of Jonathan’s current needs he added “I’m not going to go far.” Geoffrey noticed it negatively affected the alien to withdraw, but he quickly got up and stripped out of his clothes leaving a pile in the floor near the corner of their bed. Once completely bare he scooped up Jonathan and a few blankets and cocooned them on the bed.

Jonathan was startled out of the fevered haze that had started when they arrived home, by his human picking him up and depositing him and a few fresh blankets on the bed next to the nest. His nerves finally started to settle as Geoffrey pulled him tight against his body, stroking his arms and stomach idly. “Is this better Jon?” the human asked before resuming humming by his ear.

They stayed like that for a time, Geoffrey lovingly stroking and humming to his precious alien. The doctor basked in the other man’s affections; the contact was just what he needed to soothe his fears about what he would ask next. For this would be the point of no return. His body had responded just as it would for any member of his own species. It was exciting as much as it was terrifying because he did not have much advice on how to properly initiate the bond. The educated doctor in him balked at the idea of winging such things, but the alien hadn’t been able to prepare much once everything was set in motion.

Slowly he turned to where he could better see Geoffrey. When the human turned his gaze to Jonathan, the alien saw the question behind his eyes. Breathily Jonathan began, _“Geoffrey my love, would you accept me completely as I am? Would you mate with me, even knowing my true form?”_ The Xenopteran squirmed with anticipation and fear of possible rejection as he all but murmured into Geoffrey’s chest, _“Would you accept a lifelong bond to me?”_ There, he had said it. No going back now. All he could do was to see if his love was reciprocated.

Geoffrey was stunned momentarily by Jonathan’s heartfelt admission. He hugged Jon tightly to his chest before pulling him back and cupping his chin. Leaning down, voice dripping with want, so close they were almost kissing, the human spoke _, “I would love nothing more than to mate with you **mo chroí**. I am yours, Jon alien butt and all,”_ he chuckled softly.

Jonathan chirped with joy before rubbing his cheek into Geoffrey’s face purring loudly for a couple of moments. He then backed up slightly so he could talk his human through what all mating would entail. He explained that for his species mating involved many things including the lengthy courtship they had had over the past few months. The actual mating took place when the pair felt safe in their affections and it was a melding of minds, where memories and the love shared were on full display. It brought the mating pair closer together, intertwining thoughts and feelings into a harmonious dance.

Nodding and nervous with anticipation McCullum asked, _“Is there anything special I need to do? I don’t exactly have the same abilities another one of your species would have.”_

_“No Geoffrey, it is more than possible for me to initiate the bond, of that I am sure.”_

_“How do you want me, love?”_

_“Lie down Geoffrey my love, relax and **know me**.”_

The softest touch began in the agent’s head. Relaxing as best he could, he put his trust into Jonathan fully. It quickly turned into a rushing wave, much like a pressure valve that had suddenly been released. Geoffrey came undone by the sensations and thoughts that flashed by him, as his human brain tried to interpret the new feelings he was experiencing. He saw moments and memories that had to have been from Jonathan growing up. The human was amazed that he understood at least in this space what a beautiful language Xenopterans used to communicate. Nothing was hidden as he saw what must have been an infant Jonathan crawling towards his parents. _“My God,”_ Geoffrey thought, _“that’s you Jon… my little Jonathan,”_ he said grinning stupidly to himself. He heard a happy murmur buzz in his head before they shifted to another memory. He saw Jonathan’s lifegiver pamper him growing up allowing him the safety of finding his way. He saw how big his lover’s family was at a family gathering of some kind. Mixed in with all of the good Geoffrey eventually saw what had been the cause of the alien’s greatest sorrows.

He understood now the other side of the coin intimately, how and why Jon’s species was known intergalactically for their lying deceitful ways. He saw the hurt and disgust Jon had for his people’s customs. Knowing that even if his family was well enough off due to its size, there were many exploited members of society on planet and off world that caused Jon to reach a breaking point.

Geoffrey was then whisked to the more recent memories of after he had first met Jon, back when he had been a right asshole. It was devastating to witness the hurt and pain he had caused the alien, how that had also pushed Jonathan to a single-minded pursuit of his medical degrees. Those memories did not last long however, they did leave gaping wounds in their wake, which would take time to heal.

From there he was shown a peek into their past five wonderful months together, from the awkward earlier months to this current moment. He saw the harassment the doctor had endured on that fateful night at their apartment. He heard Jon’s purring rumble, echoing in his mind soothingly, as everything shifted again.

Now they were deposited in Geoffrey’s childhood home, in Dublin. He witnessed it with a disconnected sense of disbelief that it was happening before his eyes again. There were happier memories from when he was very young, like his ma teaching him how to cook while she sang to him. They only spoke in their native Irish and Geoffrey hoped Jon was able to still understand even as memories flitted in and out of his awareness.

There was however no stopping the revisitation to that fateful night where his belligerent father came home pissed and raging at his mom. He watched in vivid detail as his younger self tried to stop his father from attacking her with a large carving knife. He watched horrified as he saw how he had been unable to do anything but stare as she was stabbed by the drunken man before the bastard had escaped into the night. It showed the aftermath as Geoffrey had phoned the emergency response team to take her to hospital. He remembers trying to hold pressure over the worst of his mother’s wounds, and how she had held his face and told him everything would be ok and that she would always love and watch over her fierce little warrior. He had cried as they took her in the back for surgery, and how when they had come back with a priest accompanying them afterwards.

All the pain and anguish in the in-convening days played over their linked minds. He felt the soothing caress of Jon’s mind wrapping itself around him and bringing him comfort. After that the memories darted to his first encounters with Jonathan, where he died from embarrassment and Jonathan found out the reasons for his poor conduct. He was mortified as he tried to convey how sorry and wrong he was in those early years. Jonathan just hummed in acceptance of the apology as the scene shifted once more.

Blessedly the past five months were of a better time, where Geoffrey shared just how much he loved the alien doctor currently. Certainly, he would know just how much he cared for his well-being and the possibility of a life with him. With those warm feelings shining through both sides of the bond, Geoffrey felt a change cascade through him as if he was coming down from a high.

Geoffrey opened his eyes and saw Jonathan’s true form perched above him with their foreheads still touching. It did not bother the human in the slightest as he held on to Jon’s waist tightly and continued experiencing the aftershocks of the bond. Jon chirped and purred as his compassion spilled forth through the bond.

Geoffrey felt tears streaming down the sides of his face and was almost embarrassed as Jonathan shifted back into his human form while still purring at him. Jonathan’s face held an open smile as he continued to rest above the human. Geoffrey felt indescribably at peace in the moment. He expected the connection to fully close off but it stayed nestled in a small corner of his mind, like a lodestone keeping him tethered to Jonathan.

After drying his tears away, he spoke in a tired rasp, _“That was amazing love, I … the words escape me.”_

Jonathan the smug git, preened under the complements while saying, _“I’m glad you found it to your satisfaction Geoffrey, my love… **my life**.”_ Those words stirred a fire in Geoffrey’s belly at Reid’s velvety voice, but he was far too exhausted from the mating to even be aroused at this point. Seeing the human yawn deeply, Jonathan chuckled before falling beside Geoffrey and grabbing a blanket to cover them up. _“Sleep well my life.”_ All that Jonathan got in reply was a low snore, and the feedback of their cemented bond, surrounding the alien in contentment and love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Irish Gaelic:
> 
> meatachán - coward/pussy
> 
> mo chroí - my heart


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait on this one, it's a long one for sure :D !
> 
> TW: Pretty standard stuff I believe here. Talk of Injuries and Medical type stuff.

Geoffrey startled awake having apparently dozed away at his desk at headquarters. Thinking back the past five days, he scratched at his stubble roughly before rubbing the sleep from his eyes.  _ Geoffrey had woken up the next day after the mating, still stunned that the bond remained with him as a tangible feeling of love and belonging as he went about his morning routines. Jon had been significantly more relaxed and affectionate he noticed as well; touches were now freely given and often. Geoffrey felt like he now had a direct link to the alien’s current emotional state. Something that he had to learn to navigate as it was impossible to hide certain feelings now. _

He felt the hum of Jon’s consciousness over their connection. The doctor was giddy about something he mused as he got up to stretch out his stiff muscles. Glancing at the clock he thought about heading up to visit his favorite alien. He needed to discuss the murders anyway. He grabbed the case files and his field kit just in case there was a call that required the agent to head out before making it back to the office. Closing up the office Geoffrey debated on checking in with the Priwen taskforce. He quickly thought better of it, knowing the lads, he’d be trapped for another hour or two minimum if he opened that door.

Instead he made his way up to the Medical wing and down the hall to Reid’s office. As he opened the door Jonathan was turning around carrying a set of test tubes to his desk. Smiling the agent spoke,  _ “Afternoon, love. What has you so excited?” _

The spirited alien was practically bouncing around in his seat. Jonathan very animatedly told the human,  _ “I’ve done it, Geoffrey! I have produced a stable additive that I should be able to marinade my food in. It will save us so much time. It is a good substitute from my own digestive fluid. I can add it to food the night before, but remarkably I kept researching and I believe I can also safely drink it before eating. Of course I would want to test this with softer foods first. I think it should work though since it is on par with the acidity of my stomach in my true form.” _

_ “Really?”  _ Geoffrey was shocked but happy for the Xenoteran.  _ “Have you eaten your meal today or did you forget while you were busy doing your researchin’?”  _ Chuckling the human made his way over to Jon and ran hand over his cheek. Jonathan purred as his human leaned in for a kiss. Jonathan felt the teasing warmth from Geoffrey and met him halfway. Since their bond he had noticed just how much McCullum cared for him. It made his heart swell with joy and also caused him to feel more open to some human mannerisms and idiosyncrasies. The trust that was cemented with the bond left no room for doubt. With the sympathetic rebound over the link Jonathan found that he had started to take great pleasure in their kisses. 

He felt Geoffrey's lips press against his mouth which the doctor answered with a deep purr. Jonathan let the human set the pace as he coaxed the alien’s tongue into a dance that soon had the doctor breathless. Pulling away, Geoffrey took a moment to catch his breath before replying,  _ “I’m proud of you Jon, I knew you would be able to do it.” _

Jonathan couldn’t help the delighted chirp leave his mouth before he could clamp down on it. Contentment radiated from the agent as Jonathan turned back to his desk.  _ “I’m sorry if I distracted you from work, I have been working on the last bit for hours and had about given up.” _

_ “That’s ok Jon, how about we go down a grab a bite to eat?” _

_ “That sounds like a fantastic idea. I could perhaps even test out my new creation.” _

_ “Aye, you could. Do you need to do anything else before we head down? I suspect us to be ambushed by Priwen or the Brotherhood before the day is out. I feel it in my gut.” _

_ “Let me just water Lisa and grab a couple of patient files that I need to chart later.” _

_ _

They made their way down to the mess hall where Geoffrey got the standard provided meal of the day. A nice hearty vegetable beef soup with some water biscuits. He also grabbed a small bowl of it for Jon and went to find him talking to a very animated Calvin, and to McCullum’s chagrin, Edgar Swansea.

Jonathan felt the moment Geoffrey spotted them. He felt the human’s disdain for the man sitting across from him crash into him. He also noticed the echoes of possessive jealousy as well. Jon let out a subvocal hum, that the agent couldn’t hear but felt the intention through their connection. Flustered and chastised, Geoffrey sat down handing over the bowl he had gotten for the alien. He then proceeded to dig in while the scientists and engineers talked.

Calvin was the first one to speak, “As I was saying we are getting very nearly there to having a working implant.”

“What are you still having issues with?” Jonathan asked, stirring in his new prototype to the soup. Pleased by the immediate reaction he let it sit while Edgar replied.

“We have tried our best to hone the technology into only affecting the auditory systems, and found there is simply no way that it will not affect at least some of the other systems.”

“That makes it highly risky then, why keep at it?” McCullum grumbled angrily.

“We believe that while it does affect other systems, side effects seen are harmless, and they may even be beneficial as well,” Swansea replied, almost bouncing in his seat.

“What are these other systems that are affected, and why do you deem them acceptable?” Reid asked.

Calvin straightened in his seat before laying out the data, “The biomechanical nature of this implant ultimately causes the desired one hundred percent change to the auditory nerves and temporal lobes such as to facilitate the hearing of subsonic and ultrasonic frequencies. In tests we found that there was also a prevalence of biological changes to the olfactory organs at a rate of eighty percent, visual organs at a rate of sixty-five percent, and parietal lobe at a rate of seventy-eight percent.”

Jonathan still unsure, inquired further, “How could that be in any way beneficial? That much change could overwhelm any human.”

Calvin defended by saying, “The non-intended changes are overall positive; we see the formation of a tapetum behind the retina, and the production of more olfactory receptors resulting in upwards of 20 times greater than the standard human sense of smell. The change in the temporal and parietal lobes facilitate the interpretation of these new changes. We believe at this time it is more effective to perfect the safety and success rate of the procedure, rather than try to further narrow the changes.”

Interjecting Swansea added, “Think of the possibilities Jonathan. Human agents with sharper than average senses, that could be able to better track down not only this murderer, but also any adversary for years to come. It would increase the safety to the agents by giving them inherent tools that reduced risk while out in the field.”

“Will you at least consider looking at the results of the testing Dr. Reid?” Calvin said looking hopeful.

“I can try my best,” Jonathan said before deeming his soup ready for consumption. Geoffrey watched as his alien inhaled the soup, before turning to the smoothie that he also brought today. With that the other two took their leave, allowing the duo to finish their meals in peace. They sat in compassionate silence, content to just be physically near as they ate their respective lunches.

They parted at the elevators and went back to their separate duties for the rest of the day. Geoffrey always hated afternoons when the day dragged on and he couldn’t see Jon, but since the bonding, he had found that some of that frustration was lessened. It didn’t hurt that he would get a trickle of happiness or excitement from Jon, and the agent could just see the alien solving a problem or amusing himself with some project or task. It made his world brighter as the days got more and more stressful.

They arrived home under good spirits, lazing about after a long stressful day at the office. Priwen was still keeping their nose to the ground for any sign of the killer. But as the night wore on Jonathan became slightly agitated.

_ “What’s wrong Jon? You keep rubbing at your chest and I can feel how much it’s been troubling you these past couple of days.” _

__

_ “I’m not quite sure but I’ll check it in the morning,”  _ the alien sighed with exhaustion.

_ “Are you sure? I could take a look at it right now if you need me to.” _

__

_ “No, I’m sure it’s nothing Geoffrey,”  _ he said making his way into the bedroom.

Geoffrey wanted to turn in for the night too but he stayed up another hour or so to do a few chores before he joined Jon in their bed.

“Hmmmm,” he hummed into Jonathan’s sensitive ears as he pulled the alien towards him.

Jonathan, too tired to respond with words, just chirped quietly in response as he let the human wrap him up in his arms and the heavenly warm blankets.

Jonathan woke up to the sounds of his beloved life, panting and moaning in his sleep next to him. The human was radiating want and desire as he let the occasional  **_Jon_ ** escape. His human sporadically talked and acted out his dreams ever since he had moved in with him, and yet, since their mating a week ago he had realized a noticeable increase in these nocturnal fantasies.

He wondered if the bonding processes had somehow had a negative effect on human physiology. Curiously he ran through everything he knew on the subject theorizing hypotheses as to the interaction between their two species. He realized that from what his family had said, he too was exhibiting slightly deferring responses.

One thing was for sure, while he might not understand fully human’s need for copulation outside mating and reproducing, he understood the need that was rolling off of Geoffrey’s unconscious thoughts. Maybe he could help, Jonathan contemplated eyeing the writhing body beside him. He wondered what it would be like now with their connection. Humming to himself he moved over to where he was facing the sleeping agent.

Geoffrey woke up to Jon chirping at him and rubbing his face into his neck.  _ “Wha… Jon…”  _ Just then he felt one of Jonathan’s hands snake up to grab his very hard member while the alien purred into his side. The purring went straight to his dick making him gasp for breath. Geoffrey startled by the Xenopteran’s ministrations he asked,  _ “What brought this on, love?” _

__

All he got in response was a chirp, more purring, and a painfully delicate caress of his now leaking cock. Geoffrey wasn’t able to get anymore words out as he was worked by the skilled doctor’s hands. No touch was the same as Reid picked up the pace now that the human was awake.

Geoffrey didn’t know if it was the physical contact or the feedback loop from their bond that soon had him spilling into the sheets. Jonathan really had a knack for surprising him it seemed. He felt love, and desire, as well as a sense of euphoria coming from the alien, stunning the human in its presence.

Jonathan nudged his way to where he was fitted around Geoffrey as he lazily purred and trialed kisses down the human’s chest, stroking his abdomen as he did so. “Yer awfully feisty this morning,” the Irishman grinned pulling Jon into a warm kiss and wrapped his arms around his alien hugging him close.

The doctor smiled at him as he adjusted his position on Geoffrey’s chest before letting out a pained chirp, as he jerked back.

Suddenly serious, the human sat up and said, “What’s wrong Jon?” Pain, and confusion flitted across the connection as the alien sat up, rubbing his chest and chirping softly in short bursts.

“It hurts, but I am unsure as to why. I haven’t done anything that would have caused injury,” Jonathan said getting up shakily.

“Why don’t I draw you a bath and we could check over your true form for any issues?” Geoffrey said dashing around the side of the bed to help his boyfriend to the bathroom. It pained him to see Jon in any pain whatsoever, but feeling the alien’s distress as keenly as his own, only amplified his fretting.

They checked him over in his human form, finding no visible issues, although the tenderness around his chest slightly above his heart was worrisome. It was sensitive enough that lightly touching it caused him to flinch back in pain.

Geoffrey was very thankful he had pulled the strings to get a massive bathtub installed at least so the alien could take a full bath in his own skin when he felt like it. He helped Jonathan into the tub as he shifted leaning over the lip of the tub for support. It seemed that if nothing else, the doctor enjoyed the warmth.

Letting the Xenopteran get comfortable, the agent began to help Jon wash pampering him with touches and massages as he relaxed below the suds. While the bath helped some, it seemed as if the pain hadn’t fully dissipated. This was evidenced by twitches and occasional whines from Jon which amplified the unease Geoffrey was feeling along their link.

After some time and still no full sign of relief, the human said, “Let’s get ye out and dried off sweetheart.” As much as the small bathroom allowed Geoffrey helped the alien out of the bathtub and wrapped him in their softest towels. He chuckled at the weak chirping and brought a hand to Jonathan’s cheek. He leaned in in an attempt at resting his forehead on Jon's when he noticed something off white on his chest.

Jonathan who had started purring at the contact stopped abruptly when Geoffrey pulled away. “Jon, there’s something on yer chest, love… It’s in that, what did you call it? It looks, soft almost.” The agent reached out and felt the growth softly, confirming that it was indeed somewhat soft to the touch.

The alien seemed frozen to his spot, radiating confusion and wonder. Then with a sound Geoffrey had never heard before, Jon startled out of his daze and made his way over to the mirror. He angled to get a better view of his chest and when he did, Geoffrey was overpowered by a sheer cascade of emotions. Confusion, joy, wonder, terror, love, and many others pelted the human bringing tears to his eyes.

Whether it was the Irishman’s cry or the rebounding emotions, something managed to catch the alien’s attention as he turned and saw his emotionally wrecked human gasping to catch his breath. Knowing what was finally going on the doctor shifted back into his human form and fell into his mate’s embrace.

Geoffrey came out of his stupor, not on the bathroom floor but in their bed, surrounded by a humming and purring Jonathan. “Jonathan, what happened?”

“Geoffrey, my life,” the alien said, eyes shining with warmth and joy. He reached up pulling the human into a shy kiss as he spoke, “I forgot about something the night that we mated.”

Sensing embarrassment, he looked at Jonathan and replied with trepidation, “What did you forget?”

“I admit I forgot about some of the results of a full mating bond. Between making sure there were no adverse reactions or side effects for you, I neglected to remember probably the most important consequence for me.” Bashfully the Xenopteran continued, “The almost certain outcome of our union, one in which I now find myself, my beloved Geoffrey is a new life.”

The human was flabbergasted. Did he hear correctly… that Jonathan was pregnant? “Love, did I understand correctly, you are with child?” The alien let off a series of chirps and vocalizations as Geoffrey felt overwhelming love and joy emanate from the bond.

Geoffrey felt like he was going to hyperventilate. They had never discussed kids. Then again, the human had never thought that would be an issue because of him being gay and him falling for a member of a different species. What would they do? They had no space or time to care for a child with the craziness of the investigation. And he was sure he would be a horrible father, just look what his own father had done. And would Jonathan even want to keep the child? He had knocked his boyfriend up!

Jonathan at this point had drawn Geoffrey into his lap purring and chirping and trying to soothe his distressed human. Normally the man would be trying to get away from all contact, but since mating, the agent craved physical contact just as much as the alien. Jon knew this would help regulate his emotions so he slid off Geoffrey’s shirt and pulled the man back into his embrace.

Jonathan pondered on all of the emotions and the physical symptoms he had been experiencing the past week finding they matched up with his own diagnosis. Their union had produced the most sacred things his people recognized, a child. As he held his life mate tightly, he felt, and for the first time understood, the sensation of the growing pup.

After some time had passed, and the human calmed down, he mumbled into the alien’s chest still too strung out to face his lover directly. As he carded a hand through Jon’s hair he asked, “What are we going to do? You know I wouldn’t make a good parent, a good father…” he said, burying his face once more as he tried not to let tears fall.

Humming softly, Jonathan pulled the human up to him as he spoke, “My dearest Geoffrey, you will make a perfect father to our pup. I’m sure of it. We will see this through, don’t you worry.”

“But how do I even support you through this? I know so little about your species, I feel like I’m already failing.”

The alien pulled him into a tight hug murmuring and purring softly. “We’ll learn together Geoffrey; I’ll contact my family and research more about it so that we can prepare. In my experience of human and other species interactions, most expecting parents feel unprepared. I’m sure we’ll do fine.”

They stayed like this for some time before Geoffrey got up and started getting ready for something. “What are you doing, my life?” Jonathan said making his way out of their bed as well.

“I’m going to go in and check on some things with the investigation.” The alien winced slightly at the sting in the words his human spoke, but more so the feeling he was picking up through the bond. Geoffrey appeared to be closing up.

Hoping to mitigate whatever was wrong Jon piped up, “I’ll get ready too and go with you.”

It was at that moment Geoffrey realized the hurt he had caused. Leaning in he rested his hand under the alien’s chin and drew him up into a tender kiss. “Don’t fret Jon I just need to take care of some things as well as to clear my head. I know I make a right fool of myself half the time. I’ll be back in no time.”

Chirping sadly the doctor let his mate go, hoping that a little distance would help settle his thoughts. It wasn’t like the bond could be broken with distance, but it did offer a modicum of privacy for the both of them. Plus, Jonathan thought he could write to his life giver and sibling in the meantime.

The Xenopteran indulged his instincts and made a small nest in their bed as he settled in to write home to his family. Humming to himself as he rubbed his chest lovingly, he began filling in his favorite sibling and his life giver on his last couple of months. He started by discussing more mundane goings on, at work and how he had created a revolutionary new additive that allowed him to eat outside his true form, without undue strain. He also informed them about the difficulties and tribulations of being assigned active duty for a string of murders. After divulging his fears about Geoffrey being harmed, he shared his joy at growing closer with the human and how it had resulted in their mating.

He admitted that he had fretted over the details of how the human would be affected so much that he forgot the most important thing about the bonding process. He went on to say how his life cradle had formed and that he could safely say that he was carrying his first pup. Slightly melancholic, he sighed at the prospect of not having his family there to share in the experience. Instead, he tried to methodically inform them of every new development he had over the past week.

After he was done drafting the message, he went to the kitchen to grab a quick bite to eat as he was now eating for two. He then returned to his pile of blankets and pillows and snuggled in for the rest of the afternoon, first charting and doing other paperwork, then relaxing by watching the telly in their bedroom.

It was dark out when Jonathan was woken by Geoffrey slipping into the bed and nuzzling his way into the alien’s nest. The moment their skin met, the tendril of stress that had built up with the man’s departure earlier that day fell away. The human became lovingly attentive facilitating as much skin-to-skin contact as they could both manage. “Jon, how are you doin’ sweetheart?” Still quite sleepy he answered with a tired series of vocalizations and one drawn out chirp. “Aye, I missed you too. But I also agree sleep sounds mighty fine, especially when you are so perfectly relaxed love.”

Drawing the alien close they nodded off for the night in each other’s arms.

The next day started out hectic as the couple was awoken by an urgent call to come into the office and meet with Priwen’s task forces. They made quick work of getting ready, Geoffrey almost neglecting to grab the worn out scarf his ma had made him when he was little and Jonathan forgetting his contacts until they were almost out the door.

They made their way to headquarters groggy; Geoffrey almost inhaling his coffee and the Xenopteran gulping down the strong tea that he favored. They parked and rode the lift up to level eight. Striding in without preamble Geoffrey barked out, “So what was it that was so important that you couldn’t just speak over the phone?”

“We have evidence that the killer struck again,” Declán spoke nervously, “only this time it’s worse.”

Jonathan hummed and chimed in, “How so?”

“Like so,” Volkov said pointing to the main monitor banks. What was displayed sent a shiver down the agent’s back. Two crime scenes were displayed one on half the monitors, the other showing an entirely different slaying.

Growling in frustration McCullum demanded, “When did they occur?”

“Same time, Boss.”

“Fuck.”

“Aye,” Declán said. “Happened at the same time and we have video proof. First one happened in an alley, victim older larger male, quick work found dead behind some refuse. Second one happened about a mile away.”

“Da, entire family slaughtered,” spat Nickolai.

Geoffrey let out a long sigh as the doctor asked, “So it is not one killer but two or more?”

“That is our working theory, yes. We’re still waiting on the teams to return. Theo led team one this time at the larger scene. Both are still collecting as much evidence as they can.”

“What about the other scene?”

“Not much to say, only one victim and the kill was swift and as repetitive as previous kills. This one is suspected to be the main killer’s work at present, same MO and everything.”

“Are we needed on location?” Geoffrey glancing at Jonathan, eyes falling briefly to his chest before turning back to Declán.

“I don’t think so. We’ll keep you updated, and of course you both are free to everything as it comes in. I’m sure you will be needed for the autopsies doctor.”

What followed was a day and a half of intense analysis of everything that was found the day before. Everyone was running on caffeine by that point, Geoffrey had even had to keep a close eye on Jonathan as he was almost tempted into trying coffee again. Tensions were running high the agent had been growing increasingly obsessed with the case and it was putting a strain on their bond. Jonathan had been growing increasingly agitated and worried as their child continued to develop.

By mid-evening the next day Jonathan had seen enough, his life mate was working himself to death.

“Enough Jon, I get yer point, but I ain’t willin’ to back down with this. We aren’t any closer to them and if I don’t find something soon, we’re doomed,” the Irishman thundered, accent more pronounced in his growing anxiety. 

“Please Geoffrey my dear,” the alien pleaded, coming around to the agent drawing the human’s hand to his cheek where he rubbed into it purring.

“I can’t love,” the man replied sadly cupping his beloved alien’s face before pulling him into a kiss. “Everything is going shite, and…” Jonathan interrupted Geoffrey by kissing him again and interrupting his distressed train of thought.

The agent pulled away though, cold and distant like before they had been together. The doctor let out a distressed whimper just barely in the range of human hearing at the feeling of rejection from his life mate. Just as that realization had made its way through the bond both of their phones went off, drawing them out of moment.

They had no time as they hastily scrambled and dashed to the scene.

They arrived on scene to Volkov barking orders over coms. He looked over to the pair as they rushed over trying to not be immediately drenched by the downpour currently in effect,  _ “We believe we have one of them in our sights. We have perimeter set up and we believe we’ve cornered it in the abandoned building across way,”  _ the man said, indicating over to the five-story stone building ahead of them.

McCullum took it in while finishing kitting up with the gear he would think would be most beneficial to him inside the dark decaying shell of the building.  _ “What makes you think we have it contained; it’s pissing out here not good for visibility yeh?” _

The Russian looked at him and said,  _ “We have all of non-support staff from Priwen deployed and even couple of field teams that director authorized for our use. Trust me boss, he’s in there and the moment he tries to leave we’ll know.” _

The doctor had meanwhile had dressed more comfortable in case the situation called for him to use his other form. He did choose a decent medical kit and a couple of choice weapons before he spoke.  _ “I can hear the perpetrator is still here,” _ the alien said, angling his head towards the building seemingly listening to something only he could hear.  _ “We should move quickly Geoffrey if we are to catch it.” _

_ “Aye,” _ the human agent said as he turned to ask,  _ “What is the best way to get into the building?” _

_ “I would suggest car park over on right,”  _ the Priwen member said pointing to the two-level parking garage over to the right of the building.

_ “Whose team is stationed over there?” _ Geoffrey said checking the last of his equipment before looking over his alien, worried about him going in with their child in his chest.

_ “I think it’s Angela’s and possibly Theo’s team covering both levels, and it’s covered so less chance of rain being issue,” _ the Russian huffed impatiently wishing he wasn’t stuck coordinating the operation tonight.

Nodding the two made their way swiftly over to the ground level of the lot, and rendezvoused with what appeared to be Theo’s team as he spotted the man hunched over a makeshift command post. Coming up to him Geoffrey called out,  _ “We’re here got any plans on how to sweep this place and catch the Fecker?” _

Theo stood up smirking,  _ “Aye, you two will make up the spearhead of the sweep while most of my team and I follow with a broad pronged sweep that will ensure it’s not able to hide. I figure ten or so will be sufficient.” _

_ “Sounds good,” _ Geoffrey said, moving his way over to the entrance.  _ “Right, Jon, stay behind mi as we go and tell mi if you hear or see anythin’ strange.” _ With that he opened the door and moved into the building noting how dark and musty it smelled. The rain made it even more difficult to listen for anything not normal as the doctor followed him inside, eventually followed by Theo’s team.

What followed was a stressfully tense clear of the building. The coms were kept silent as the duo pushed forward leaving no nook or cranny unchecked. As they made it near the third floor however Reid tapped the special agent on the shoulder whispering,  _ “I can both smell and hear the perpetrator. They must be on this level or the one above.” _ Jonathan could hear though not understand the chittering of the other alien almost as if it was calling out urgently to someone or something. He could see that there wasn’t any movement in their vicinity, but they slowed down to a crawl just to be safe.

Geoffrey was thankful he had opted to and put in a set of contacts which allowed him to see in the dark, even though they irritated his eyes not long after, he should be fine for tonight’s raid. As they neared the far stairwell up to the last floor Jonathan heard movement.

Before Jonathan could call out something barreled into the human knocking him down, before darting across the room surprisingly fast for its anatomy. It slithered to the doorway before turning around and hissing at the pair. It must have heard or seen Theo’s sweepers following behind them. It held for a moment as if trying to plan its next move.

By now Geoffrey had rolled over and gotten up in a swift motion and had his trusty weapon, a high-powered stunning crossbow he had crafted himself, aimed right at the killer’s sternum. The special agent growled out,  _ “You are under arrest on suspicion of murder. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you withhold information upon questioning which you later bring up in tribunal. Anything you do say may be used as evidence." _

The creature was large and like nothing either of the two had seen before. They were not able to discern the full scope of the body before it was shifting into a more humanoid shape. Geoffrey barked out the organization’s arrest procedure one last time as a human looking man emerged and spoke,  _ “I don’t think I shall.” _ And with that the alien reached over and hefted a rather sophisticated pistol, aimed and shot at the doctor standing right behind the human.

As the hit landed Jonathan’s self-preservation instincts kicked in as he spun around and dove into cover as the alien shot out a nearby window and disappeared out of it. Yelling could be heard outside of the room and over the com’s but Geoffrey didn’t hear that.

_ “ _ **_NO_ ** _ ,” _ Geoffrey roared as he saw the beast shoot Jonathan in the chest just right of center. He felt pure agony through the bond as he rushed over to his mate who had curled up on himself behind the nearest cover he could find.

The agent snarled over the com’s in his rage to the Priwen members just outside the room and perimeter for the shoot to kill order to be effective immediately. He heard multiple firings but couldn’t be bothered to care if they had landed hits, as he cradled his other half who was shifted into his true form.

_ “Jon…” _ Geoffrey winced as he felt Jonathan’s pain as keenly as his own. Blood littered his form and the ground around him hinting at a wound that was losing blood at a steady pace.  _ “Just hold on love… we’ll get you somewhere safe,” _ he said, taking Jonathan’s auxiliary talons into his hand and resting his forehead on his partner for a moment. Then seeing more blood ooze out of the wound, he turned to look where the doctor had dropped his gear after shifting.

He rummaged quickly through finding the hemostatic gauze before turning back to John and beginning to pack the wound that was just inches to the right of where their child was nestled and growing. The Xenopteran let out a pained whine when Geoffrey started to pack the wound after he had cleared the excess blood to locate and evaluate the wound effectively.  _ “I know love, I’m so sorry…” _

He continued to apply pressure to the wound after the gauze had been effectively packed and the wound dressed and wrapped. The human continued to check the dressing every so often until a couple of Priwen had moved up to their position.

Priwen’s field medical officer Alistair Hawthorne made his way over with Theo flanking him as precautionary fire support. Alistair wasted no time, _ “What’s the situation?” _

_ “The perp, shot at my  _ **_mate_ ** _ ,” _ Geoffrey bellowed, having a hard time keeping himself calm when he felt the emotions of two beings that were also worried about a little one on the way. Jon’s pain mixed with his sheer terror at seeing the alien hurt so badly had really thrown him off his game.

Trying to placate their commander Hawthorne stated,  _ “we understand sir, but it would be best if you told us everything so we have a better idea with what we’re dealing with, and so we could get doctor Reid here to HQ.” _

Nodding the agent relayed all the known injuries and the actions he had taken to stymie the flow of blood. Hawthorne checked the dressings and other smaller injuries on the man before tuning to his commander.  _ “I believe Jon should be ready for the trip back to headquarters. I advise we air lift him as he is. There is a clearing not far from here.” _

_ “Is it safe to evacuate?” _ McCullum asked, noting that there were no signs of combat any longer.

_ “Yeah we…” _ Theo spoke looking to Hawthorne with apprehension before speaking again,  _ “the creature slipped through the perimeter, we lost it.” _

Geoffrey lets out a tired bone-weary sigh,  _ “Right no sense standing around here. Let’s get out of here,”  _ he barked as he tenderly rested his hand on Jonathan’s face.  _ “Do you think you can change sweetheart? Or is it impossible or too painful?” _

Jonathan let out a whimper but started to recede back into his human shape except around the wound. Tired and in pain he sighed,  _ “I can only hold my shape for a while. I’ve left the wound be as it’s easier to maintain the rest of my shape until we get back. I will be ok Geoffrey,” _ the doctor said holding his gaze.

The agent had a hard time accepting that when he could see all the blood loss surrounding them. It didn’t take long for Hawthorne’s medical unit to make their way over and get the Xenopteran strapped onto a stretcher. They quickly descended the building and rushed over to where the helicopter stood on the roof of the abandoned car park. McCullum growled as they were preparing to lift off,  _ “ _ **_I’m riding too_ ** _.” _ Knowing the agent’s temper wasn’t worth fighting, they made space for him and took off.

By the time they had made it to headquarters Reid was drifting in and out of consciousness from the blood loss _. “ _ **_Stay with me Jon, you can’t leave me all alone now love_ ** _ ,” _ Geoffrey ground out, fisting his hand into the thermal blanket they had over his alien to keep his body temperature regulated.

As they made it up to the medical wing Hawthorne grabbed a hold of his old commander’s hand and said,  _ “look McCullum we need to prep him for surgery and we can’t have you back there.” _

_ “ _ **_The hell you can’t, you can’t keep me from him. He needs me._ ** _ ”  _ Every warning bell was going off in his head, he could still feel Jon’s pain and need to be comforted. It was screaming at him to protect his mate and his young.

_ “And we’ll get you just as soon as we get him cleaned and stitched up. But for right now you have to wait like all other partners and significant others. You will only make it harder to treat him safely. There are few that skilled enough in his anatomy besides himself,” _ the Priwen doctor spoke evenly. _ “We’ll get him back to you, I promise.” _

As he was led away Geoffrey stilled and ran back up to the tired field agent before he had disappeared to check on Dr. Reid. _ “Feckin hell I almost forgot,”  _ Geoffrey gasped nervously. Alistair just looked at him waiting while Geoffrey tried to sort his nerves out and spit it out. Ringing his hands together the agent said,  _ “Jon is… pregnant.” _

Hawthorne blinked his eyes as if not registering what McCullum had said to him.  _ “You’ll have to run that by me again, I heard you say Dr. Reid was pregnant, as in carrying a child?” _

Blushing a vibrant red the Irishman said,  _ “Yes, we are expecting, I’m not exactly sure when, it was kind of unplanned, things just happened.” _

_ “That makes everything much more delicate. How far along is he? How is he carrying the child?” _

_ “It’s only been nine days, and he’s carrying it in his chest, there’s an egg growing with our child inside it,” _ Geoffrey said trying to remember and relay as much as he could.

_ “Okay McCullum, I better get in there. I’ll get someone to grab you just as soon as he’s out of the OR.” _ With that he turned and disappeared into the medical wing to assist them with the surgery.

All the stress, worry, and rage threatened to overwhelm him as he slid down the corridor wall in a frustrated cry. About that time Theo came off the lift with a steaming mug of something in his hands. As he neared Geoffrey he said,  _ “McCullum, thought I’d find you out here. There’s no sense of sitting here when you could just as easily be in the lobby a few feet away. You’ll need to be on your game for when Jonathan gets out of surgery. Here let me help you.” _ The younger man helped him back to the waiting area and plopped the mug of what appeared to be a steaming cup of broth into his hands.  _ “Just drink it and get some rest,”  _ Theo said, indicating to the plush couches along the wall.  _ “I’ll stay up and watch out for them to come out and get ya.” _

Geoffrey grumbled but did as the lad asked, plus he thought the broth tasted decent enough. Afterwards he collapsed into one of the couches and tried to catch some shut eye. He was startled awake by Theo shaking him some time later. Scrambling to stand he looks out and asks,  _ “So how’s he doing?” _

It was Dr. Ackroyd that spoke up in his monotone,  _ “Doctor Reid, has made it out of surgery and is recovering in a private room now. You can go see him if you wish, although I urge you to keep it calm and peaceful around him.”  _ Seeing McCullum’s worried look the doctor continued,  _ “From what we are able to tell the baby is also stable and developing well still. We would have to consult with either Reid himself, or someone else from his species to confer further.” _

_ “Can he be taken home to recover anytime soon?” _ Geoffrey asked, making his way towards the medical wing with haste.

_ “Provided he is doing well in the morning, I don’t see why not,” _ the alien said.  _ “We’re mainly keeping him overnight to make sure he responds well to the blood transfusion. If there are no complications, it would be more beneficial for his recovery if he was resting at home.”  _ And with that Geoffrey went to find his beloved Jonathan.

He wanted to storm into the recovery room and wrap his arms around his mate and take him home. All the fear and the anguish the last few days had culminated in the fruition of almost his worst fear, losing the alien he loved. Geoffrey found him out asleep in one of the few private rooms they had at Priwen. Jon appeared to be resting chest bandaged but steadily rising and falling as the machines around him beeped. He didn’t know what the machine’s readings showed, but he hopped that they wouldn’t indicate any problems or complications.

He collapsed into one of the rickety chairs next to the medical bed, as he took his mate’s hand and pleaded into his skin, “I’m so sorry mo grá.” As the tears fell, he whispered and stroked at the alien tuned into the bond that was currently muted in due to his partner’s slumber. He slipped into sleep sometime later, his head falling to rest on Jonathan’s thigh as his breathing slowed and evened out.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to join our crazy over at the Pembroke Hospital discord for all your Vampyr needs.
> 
> https://discord.gg/EdRKsh4T2t


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